Cats Have Nine Lives
by ScherzoVivace
Summary: As a transfer student in Nekoma High, she hides two things: 1. She is a stellar volleyball player, and 2. She is a girl. However, fooling a cat is not an easy task, especially when it comes to Kuroo Tetsurou. And yes, she cross-dresses because this is a gender bender. Kuroo x OC
1. Prologue

Hello readers!  
I'm ScherzoVivace and I am totally new to the Haikyuu! fandom.  
Without further ado, enjoy the story! (And don't forget to subscribe and review! ;-; your love is my strength)

* * *

Normal speech

 _Thoughts, non-speech, text, flashback_

Chapter 1: Prologue

The spring was in the air in Tokyo; the warm, gentle breeze made thick green leaves of a once barren tree dance gently, the baby birds chirped busily, and butterflies fluttered around. Panning over to Nekoma High School, in the back of class 3-5, a boy with rather unruly black hair sat with his head down on top of his desk, his broad chest completely covering the wooden furniture.

' _It's so boring…'_ He thought as he yawned, not particularly fighting the tear welling up in the corner of his eyes. He turned to face out the opened window which was letting in a gentle breeze. _'Just two more periods and I can play volleyball. I should get Yamamoto to do some back attacks today.'_

"Alright. That's all the material we're covering for today." The teacher said as she put his chalk down on the edge of the board. "Before we wrap up, we have a transfer student."

Everyone broke out into murmurs at the teacher's announcement. High school third years making a transfer wasn't very common—usually, third year transfer students were delinquents who were expelled from another school. Then a knock came from the door.

"Come in." The teacher said. The door slid open and everyone's attention pinned on the doorway. "The transfer student is here. Come in."

The figure walked in and soon enough the girls began squealing and whispering to each other—the transfer student, although not very tall for a boy, was what the girls considered "cute" and "good-looking," judging by the words they slipped while whispering among themselves. He was around 170 centimeters tall, slender built with slightly long black hair and black eyes.

"Would you mind writing your name on the board?"

The student, without much change in his expression, grabbed the chalk and wrote down a character after another.

"Hey Kuroo. His name's similar to yours." A guy sitting in front of him turned around and said. Kuroo perked up his head and read the white writing on the board: Kurobana Teru.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kurobana Teru. Thank you in advance." The boy introduced himself calmly and curtly, bowing a bit.

' _What a girly voice. And a girly face. Did he not hit puberty yet?'_ Kuroo wondered as he now sat up and examined the new student in front of the classroom with his arms crossed.

"You can sit behind Kuroo-kun in the back row. Kuroo-kun, raise your hand please."

Kuroo raised his hand. The transfer student walked over to his new seat; as he passed down the aisle the girls turned back, all with enamored looks on their faces.

"Yo." Kuroo greeted.

"Hi." He replied and sat down. The bell rang a couple seconds after and the teacher left the classroom; Kuroo turned around in hope to befriend the newcomer.

"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou. Your name's really similar to mine." He introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Kuroo." The boy replied.

"So, which club are you going to join?" Kuroo asked.

"I don't know yet."

"I'm in the volleyball club. You play any sports?"

"No." He answered, his brows furrowing very faintly. Being a keen observer, Kuroo noticed that the subject of sports didn't serve his new classmate well. Thankfully they were able to avoid the awkward silence as more of their classmates crowded around him. Kuroo observed the new guy as he replied to people's questions one after another. _'Not really the expressive type, huh?'_ Kuroo concluded as he couldn't catch the new guy cracking even a faint smile. _'This guy's like Kenma.'_

Short, 10-minute recess passed by and the class was back in session for the last period of the day.

' _Hm. I wonder if I can get Inuoka to do a back attack. But he's still not consistent in receiving… maybe a serve? No one in our team can become a pinch server yet.'_ Kuroo thought as his mind once again wandered off, cancelling out the monotonous voice of the teacher. _'If only we had an aggressive hitter… Yamamoto certainly has power but he's the only one in the team. Hopefully he can manage to hit like that Azumane of Karasuno.'_

The bell finally rang and everyone excitedly packed up and left the classroom, each going on about to participate in club activities. Kuroo, as he stood up and headed over to the door, saw the transfer student leaving as well—until he was surrounded by other clubs' manager, all asking him to join their clubs.

"Sorry, I'm not joining any." Was all he said with a flat voice; he brushed past them with a bored and indifferent look on his face.

' _Yup. He's definitely a Kenma type.'_ Kuroo smirked.

Kuroo opened up the door to the club room and found his long friend Kozume Kenma changing into his training clothes.

"Chi-su." The other members all greeted their captain as they changed.

"Sup." Kuroo greeted as well and began changing. "Yo, Kenma. There's an interesting transfer student in my class."

"Huh."

"He's just like you."

"Hn."

* * *

It was during P.E. for class 3-5 the next day; they were all playing volleyball much to Kuroo's excitement. It was a normal six against six setup; the girls perfectly split up into two teams while some guys had to sit on the sideline and wait for their turns to switch in.

"Hey, you." The P.E. teacher walked up to bleachers, where the new transfer student, Teru, and a few others were sitting down. "Transfer student."

"Yes." He answered and looked up.

"Why aren't you playing?"

"I'm not good at volleyball."

"No one is good at it except the ones in the club. You're not the only one. You have to participate to get credit, so come on, switch in." The teacher gave him a gentle push on the back and he stumbled into the court in the back row, next to Kuroo who was getting ready to serve.

' _Not willing to play at all, huh?'_ Kuroo smiled in defeat as he saw the transfer student standing idly there, without even getting ready to receive the ball. At least he could bend his legs slightly and have his arms out to be in a ready position.

Kuroo served lightly underhanded and began the rally; they played out a couple points and all the transfer student did was just stand there and watch the ball.

"Kurobana! I'll have to dock off points unless you show some effort." The P.E. teacher warned as Teru switched out and waited to get back in again. "You better touch the ball at least three times." Soon he switched in, this time in the opposite side of Kuroo, getting ready to serve.

He just let out a sigh and served underhanded.

' _Huh. Not a bad form.'_ Kuroo raised his eyebrows as Teru casually hit a underhand serve that was perfect in both height and depth into his side of the court. Like the teacher requested him to, he hit the ball three times, all making a pass perfectly to the setter. Although the rally itself wasn't of high caliber, Kuroo definitely noticed that the transfer student was not a mere novice in the sport.

' _Hou… interesting.'_ He thought as Teru completely gave up on trying after he made contact with the ball three times. The class ended and lunch break began; everyone left the gym and Kuroo sighed as he looked at the balls lying around, waiting to be cleaned up. The teacher was nowhere to be seen, and no one seemed like they were going to clean up afterwards.

' _I guess I'll have to clean up… but I need to pee first'_

He went to the bathroom, took care of his business, and washed his hands. _'Still, that transfer student kinda bothers me.'_ He traced his memory back to just half an hour ago. _'He definitely knows how to play. I wonder if he's any good. Wait, but he told me he doesn't play any sports… weird.'_

Kuroo walked out of the bathroom, wondering about the mysterious athleticism of the transfer student. He made his way into the gymnasium and heard familiar explosive noises the ball made when he practiced volleyball in club. Kuroo then found the transfer student a couple feet behind the baseline, holding a ball in his hand, occasionally bouncing it with his palm. Then the next thing utterly shocked him: the boy tossed the ball up high in the air, made a clean run-up, and met the ball by jumping up at a very high point—he swung his arms rapidly, putting his upper body weight on it, and hit the ball. The ball rocketed over the net with a fast topspin and landed in the right corner.

' _That serve!'_ Kuroo gasped and widened his eyes. He stared at the transfer student in shock; it surely didn't look like a fluke since his form was utterly flawless, even _beautiful_. The transfer student stood there and stared at the other side—and grabbed another ball beside him, getting ready to serve once again behind the baseline. Kuroo gulped and watched intently. The boy, however, abandoned Kuroo's hopes in seeing another serve as he flopped down onto the floor and lied down with his legs and arms spread apart.

Teru, who was now lying down, was deep in his thoughts as he continuously tossed the ball over his head.

' _What am I doing? Why did I even bother touching the ball.'_ His eyes furrowed as he caught the ball, stopping the consistent movement. He got up, went to the basket, and put the ball back inside.

"Hey."

Teru then heard someone from behind; everyone was supposed to be gone for the lunch break. Teru whipped around and found a ball flying straight at his lower body at a fast speed. Without thinking Teru brought his hands in front of him with his wrists perfectly aligned—the ball, upon contact, ceased to spin and floated up in the air slowly, landing just a couple feet away from Teru.

' _A perfect return. And to make that out of the blue…'_

Teru then found his tall classmate, the one that was in the volleyball club, grinning (partway smirking) at him and picking up the ball that rolled by his feet. "Not bad. I thought you didn't play volleyball."

Teru just let out a sigh. "I don't play anymore."

"Why? That serve of yours was pretty darn amazing. What school did you come from? Did you play volleyball there? What position? Since you could jump, that height wouldn't really matter too much, huh?" Kuroo asked as he picked up the other balls lying around and put them back in the basket.

"…It doesn't matter anymore." Teru said quietly and started walking towards the exit.

"Wha—wait!" Kuroo yelled, rolling the basket over to the exit after picking up all the balls. "Our club needed a strong server. You seem like you can jump and receive. You know, our team's pretty solid and we're aiming for nationals this year, and—"

"Did you not hear me? I don't play anymore." Teru said without turning around and left without giving Kuroo another look. Kuroo just stood there with a bummed look on his face.

' _He can jump high enough to spike and serve... why doesn't he want to play anymore?'_ Kuroo wondered.

After club practice, Kuroo approached the team coach, Nekomata.

"Nekomata-sensei. I'd like to talk to you." He said.

"What is it, Kuroo?" The old man said and grinned mischievously, finding it interesting that Kuroo approached him with seriousness.

"There's a transfer student in my class. He's not too tall, around 170 or a bit shorter, but he's got amazing serves. His return was solid and he can jump really high too. I was wondering if you'd give him a chance to become a middle blocker or a hitter if I got him to join."

"Hou~ a transfer student, huh?" Nekomata's eyes glinted in interest. "This guy must be good since you're praising him so much."

"I haven't really seen him play, but his serve was amazing." Kuroo said.

"Well, I'm not stopping you. Go ahead and bring him over."

"Uh, the thing is..." Kuroo trailed off. "He told me at first he didn't play any sports. And then I saw him play and he told me that he quit."

"And?" Nekomata asked, his lips curling upwards.

"And... uh... I was wondering if you as the coach could do something about it." Kuroo said. At that, Nekomata broke out into a chuckle.

"Well, that's not my problem! How am I going to convince a future player if a captain won't be able to? _You're_ going to have to convince him, Tetsurou." Nekomata chuckled and said with amusement. "If you're desperate enough, you'd find your way one way or another. Let me know if you succeed." With that Nekomata walked away with hands behind his back, a playful grin spreading across his face.

 _'Yeah. I'm a captain. It isn't like me to step down so easily.'_

The next day, Teru was eating lunch by himself quietly—until he noticed someone sitting down in front. It was Kuroo, who was grinning much too mischievously. He set down the snacks he bought from the school store and laid it out on top of Teru's desk. He then opened up one of them and started eating as well, staring at Teru while doing so. Teru looked up, giving him a suspicious look. Their eyes met and lingered for a while until Teru simply looked down and continued eating, hoping that he'd go away if no attention was paid to him. Kuroo didn't stop staring, and it was enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Teru finally asked, setting the chopsticks down.

"Eating. Do you want some?" Kuroo avoided the question and merely held out the snacks that he's been eating.

"I told you. I don't play sports anymore." Teru glared at him.

"Yeah, I got your point last time, don't worry." Kuroo answered and blinked rather indifferently.

Teru gave him a sour look, rolled his eyes, and went back to finishing his lunch. Even after a while, the tall boy didn't cease to stare; finally running out of patience, Teru shot up and looked at him with confronting eyes. "What do you want from me?"

"I just wanted to ask you to be my friend, that's all." Kuroo said, smiling rather innocently. Teru gave him a suspicious glance for a couple seconds; Teru stared and Kuroo smiled. Silence prevailed for quite some time; Teru then sighed in defeat as the smile on Kuroo's face remained wider and bigger than ever.

"Sure, whatever."

"Yay."

* * *

Teru pressed a 4-digit number on the keypad; with a click the door was unlocked and Teru opened the door.

"I'm home."

No answer came from inside but Teru naturally took off the shoes without anticipating a reply; it was a small studio apartment with a living room, a small kitchen, and small loft as a replacement for bedroom. The curtains weren't drawn and almost no light entered the apartment; Teru sighed and undid the ties of the school uniform after taking off the knitted vest. Then the buttons of the shirt were undone as well as Teru's fingers moved clumsily. There was another layer of t-shirt underneath the button-up; Teru took them off as well and was down to the last piece of clothing—a white bandage wrapped around the chest.

Teru undid the bandages and sighed as the last bit of it came loose and the pressure added to her bosoms were relieved. _'It's getting too hot… I hate how they make vests mandatory in this weather. I should just stop wearing a t-shirt underneath.'_

Teru walked around with nothing covering her top, carelessly throwing the bandage on the coffee table and plopping down on the sofa next to it without even drawing the curtains to brighten the living room. She sighed and turned on the TV, changing the channel occasionally. Unable to find anything interesting, Teru just turned off the TV and closed her eyes. She shuffled around constantly; she sighed, sluggishly got up, and walked over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Her eyes then naturally lingered on a small photo frame. Inside the photo was Teru biting into a medal while grinning cheekily and a boy around her age with his arms slung around her shoulders, smiling widely as well. Teru's eyebrows slanted downwards. She reached over carefully and placed the photo frame face-down so that she couldn't see the the bright smiles of two teenagers anymore.

* * *

So what did you think of the first chapter?

I actually write fics for Prince of Tennis and this is my very first time writing a fic for something other than PoT... haha. Check out my profile if you're interested in POT!

Also, don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you liked or what you think I should work on! Thanks! :D


	2. Breaking the Ice

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 2: Breaking the Ice

"Hey Kuroo. Who's this transfer student in your class? The girls in my class talk about him." Yaku asked. They were changing into their training clothes before the club practice in their club room.

"Aah. He's pretty popular with girls. And he's a really good volleyball player. I saw him serve the other day and it was probably the one of the best I've ever seen." Kuroo replied, putting his shirt on.

"Then why isn't he here still? It's been two weeks already. We should get him to practice."

"He doesn't want to play." Kuroo said, sighing. "He insists on saying that he doesn't play any sports anymore for some reason."

"That's weird. What's his name?" Yamamoto asked.

"Kurobana Teru."

"Hey, his name's similar to yours."

"Yeah."

"What does he look like? How tall is he?"

"He's actually really frail-looking. Kinda like a girl. Maybe about an inch or two taller than Yaku, but he can sure jump."

"Ah! Then he's like Shouyou!" Inuoka gleamed and exclaimed.

"In a sense." Kuroo said. "But way more powerful."

"So are we just giving up on this amazing player then?" Yaku asked. "We needed a pinch server and he could probably be one if he's as good as you say."

"Oh, just wait." Kuroo grinned. "He's definitely going to join."

"Kurobana-kun, please come up and solve this problem." The teacher called on Teru; she quietly stood up and walked towards the chalkboard and started writing.

Kuroo made detailed observations about his new target (and friend). He was 168 centimeters tall; aside from that, he didn't really talk much about himself.

"Good work. You may go back to your seat." The teacher complimented after checking Teru's work; Teru quietly came to back to her seat, earning blissful, love-filled looks from her female peers that didn't know her true identity.

Kuroo grinned at how oblivious and disinterested Teru was towards the attention received from the girls. Kurobana Teru was smart and popular with the ladies but he seemed like he didn't care at all.

He was an overall gloomy and unmotivated person—but that wasn't Terus's true self. Or at least Kuroo concluded. He was a bit different from Kenma. He, unlike Kenma, didn't feel particularly uncomfortable from interacting with people. He only chose to avoid them. And unlike Kenma who was glued to his PSP all the time, he was never seen doing activities that would seclude him from the world. He knew how to speak up and confront a problem when he didn't like certain things, such as Kuroo staring at him for the longest time.

' _Now, to bring out the true Kurobana Teru…'_ Kuroo pondered. And the solution he came up with was sticking around Teru _all the time_ and coaxing this scrawny, frail guy to do things along with him (which was his specialty) _,_ whether Teru liked it or not. He'd eventually get used to it. "Hey, would you hang out with me if I call you outside of school?" Kuroo asked as they ate lunch together.

"Depends." Teru answered boringly.

"So that's a yes."

"I said, it depends."

"So yes."

"…"

Teru gave the grinning boy a sour look. As the saying "a smile is the most powerful weapon" goes, she couldn't bear to talk scornfully to someone with such a sincere, hopeful smile. She let out a sigh. He won again for the nth time.

"Yeah, sure." Teru looked away and answered, getting slightly embarrassed that he could talk his way into her mind so easily.

"Yaaay."

For her, this ridiculously tall guy—with an awful bedhead and scheming, sly eyes—was a mystery. Why was he so interested in her? Just because he wanted to recruit her? Probably. But it's not like he ever mentioned volleyball in front of her after that time at the gym. He was like a normal guy friend that liked to talk about pointless things. Pretty friendly too; he was already calling her by her first name (although it was _he_ that insisted first).

' _I just can't figure out what this guy's thinking.'_ Teru sighed.

The next day, which was a Saturday, Teru had been planning to sleep in until late afternoon. But it was ruined as her phone started ringing, waking her up from her slumber. She looked at the display on the phone: 12:04. Way past noon, but still early for her.

"Hello…" Teru lazily answered the phone while lying down on her bed.

" _Still in bed? Rise and shine, Teru!"_

Teru brought the phone away from her ear, frowning from hearing a sudden, loud voice of an annoying "friend" that managed to shove his way into her life. She groaned and sighed, and brought the phone back to her ear.

"What do you want, Kuroo."

" _There's a town festival later in the evening. Let's go together. Ah, and I'll introduce you to someone."_

"I don't feel like going outside tod—"

" _Takoyaki's on me."_

Teru froze. How did this guy know that she loved Takoyaki? And to use that as bribery? He was a troublesome fellow. Like she'd fall for it.

"No, it's o—"

"I'll pay for your sweets too."

Teru held the phone away and let out a stressful sigh, in dismay at how good he became at cajoling her into doing things against her will only after hanging out for two weeks.

"Fine."

" _Yaaay. I'll meet you in front of the train station at 4. See you soon~"_

"Bye." Teru's eyebrows twitched, annoyed at how sly this guy sounded—especially his 'yaaay's that sort of had a mocking tone to it. She didn't need to see his face to know that he was smirking. Meanwhile, Kuroo _was_ indeed smirking; he figured that she loved takoyaki because of he happened to see all the coupons she had collected in her wallet.

"Hehe." Kuroo let out a chuckle after turning the phone off. Kenma, who was playing video game as usual next to him, eyed him a little. "Is it that Kurobana person?"

"Yup. And we'll get ready to have fun with him today."

"What a bother…" Kenma frowned while continuously tapping on the buttons on his device.

"Come on. It's your future teammate." Kuroo nudged him and grinned.

"You're awfully confident, Kuroo. Are you sure he would change his mind? There's obviously something else if he insists on saying that he doesn't play sports anymore." Kenma said as his fingers busily moved.

"Nah, I'm sure it's just a temporary slump. You know, like Bokuto's depressed mode but for a more prolonged period. "

"I don't know, I wouldn't be so quick to assume."

"I'm doing fine so far. Plus, he's a pretty interesting guy to hang around."

Later that afternoon—

' _Well this is awkward.'_ Teru thought as she and the new acquaintance, Kozume Kenma, waited for Kuroo to come back from the restroom. The boy was rather quiet—perhaps a bit too quiet. But she was pretty sure that he was studying her with careful glances time to time.

' _He's kinda like him.'_ Teru cracked a wry, sad smile.

"Um… Kurobana-san?" The soft-spoken boy called out carefully, snapping Teru out of her thoughts. "I kinda heard from Kuroo. I don't know much about you, but please don't think too badly of Kuroo even though he's bothersome time to time." Kenma said, shifting his gazes. "He's a actually really good guy."

Teru blinked. Then she broke out into a faint smile. "I don't think badly of him at all."

Kenma stared at her with a curious but confused glint in his eyes and soon averted his eyes away, for prolonged eye contact wasn't his forte.

* * *

 _Kuroo and Kenma walked along a dimly lit sidewalk of their neighborhood after parting with Teru. Kenma was video gaming like the usual as Kuroo casually moved his feet._

" _So, what do you think of him, Kenma?" Kuroo asked, finding his friend's exceptional perception of people necessary. The boy didn't give an answer for a while. "Kenma?"_

" _I think you should be careful in approaching him, Kuroo." Kenma finally said, his fingers still moving busily. "His smiles seem… forced."_

" _Huh." Kuroo lifted his eyebrows. "Forced?"_

" _It's like how Full Metal Alchemist's Edward smiles in front of his burnt down house." Kenma said, recalling the anime series he saw a couple days ago. "I feel like there's more to him than we know."_

" _Well of course there should be, we just barely met him." Kuroo said as a matter-of-fact._

" _Kuroo." Kenma looked into his eyes. "His eyes are sad."_

Kuroo tapped his fingers lightly while he stared into the chalkboard. _'His eyes seem sad… Edward…'_

"Kuroo-kun, please stand up and read." The teacher called out and Kuroo snapped out of his thoughts and clumsily stood up, staring into the textbook in his hands—except he didn't hear which paragraph he was supposed to read.

"Uh…"

"Paragraph 8." A soft voice came from behind. Kuroo hurriedly looked for the number next to the start of the paragraph and began reading. He sat down after the teacher stopped him and turned around to his savior.

"Heh, thanks a lot." He whispered with a toothy grin.

"Pay attention in class, dumbo." Teru said with a smile as well and Kuroo returned his friend's very first sassy remark with a smirk. He turned around and stared into the chalkboard again. That smile didn't seem too forced in his eyes. And he called him an insult of a sort, which could only mean that they're getting closer, right?

' _Maybe he was just feeling down that day.'_ Kuroo concluded. _'But man… we need to practice with a new line-up before the training camps start next month. I can't have Bokuto rubbing in my face for losing because we didn't get a chance to practice.'_

As Kuroo digressed into more volleyball-related things in his mind, the class passed by and the bell rang. The students hurriedly went out of their seats to enjoy their lunch break. Kuroo got up and stretched, then turned to his friend who was organizing his books. After three weeks it became a norm for them to get lunch together.

Kuroo, without a doubt, felt his friend warming up to him slowly but surely. After all, they cracked more jokes and laughed more than the first week when Kuroo was talking one-sidedly.

"Kuroo-san!"

Kuroo's attention turned to the entrance where the voice called his name out and saw a figure walking in.

"Aah, Lev." Kuroo greeted the ridiculously tall boy who was also getting a whole lot of attention from their peers due to his abnormal physique. "What are you doing here?"

"Taketora-san wanted me to deliver this to you!" Lev handed a book to Kuroo.

"Ah, thanks. By the way, this guy's Haiba Lev. He's a first year." Kuroo introduced his teammate to Teru. Teru looked up at the boy. "Lev, this is the transfer student I told you about."

"Aaaah! The super-server!" Lev exclaimed and earned everyone's attention in the class. Teru looked away with a sour expression and Kuroo nervously looked at Teru, and shot back at Lev to put an index finger to his lips. But being the dense simpleton he is, Lev didn't quite catch the true meaning of Kuroo's gesture and thought that he was simply being too loud; he lowered the volume down a bit and kept on throwing questions at Teru, much to her dismay.

"Kurobana-san, right? I heard you have awesome serves! And awesome receives too. Man, I'm so pumped! I want to become the ace but I have to learn how to spike! I heard that you can jump too! I wonder how high you can jump. Oh! Could you please join our team and teach me how to serve?"

"Sorry, I don't play anymore." Teru replied, managing to force a polite smile at the boy who stared at her with sparkling eyes.

Kuroo tried to intervene, sensing that Teru's patience and comfort were running thin. "Alright Lev—"

"But whyyy? It's so fun! I got to spike a ball really hard the other day and it felt soooo good! Man, although I only started this year, it's probably the most fun sport I've ever played! And my teammates are great too! Volleyball is sure great. I love it."

Teru then abruptly shot out of her chair, looking down at her feet. "I hate volleyball." She said, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. Teru stormed out of the classroom, leaving the two baffled boys behind. Kuroo ruffled his hair in frustration while Lev cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Hate volleyball?" Lev pouted, scratching his head.

"Get out of here, ya good-for-nothing." Kuroo bonked Lev's head and Lev left the class, pouting and mumbling how Kuroo didn't appreciate him enough.


	3. Reluctance

Chapter 3: Reluctance

A few days passed since Lev tumbled into their classroom and caused a ruckus (not betraying his routine). Kuroo didn't say much in particular, not wanting to disturb his rather sensitive friend even more than Lev has already done, and Teru also didn't say much, not wanting to address the issue that she didn't quite want to bring up. Kuroo still had his doubts lingering in the back of his mind, however. He admitted that he was pretty accurate in reading people's facial features, especially their eyes. And his friend's eyes—Teru's eyes after saying that she hated volleyball—was definitely not something someone who had a small slump in the sport would show. It had some serious discomfort, pain, and even sadness. If he were to compare Bokuto's slump mode to a candle light, Teru's would be a wildfire. It was that much stronger, that much more painful, and that much more turbulent.

"Kuroo, please turn in your club proposals to me if you have it." At the end of a lesson, the homeroom teacher called out Kuroo and said. "Then have a good rest of the day, everyone."

With the teacher's last comment the bell rang and students rose out of their seats or organized their desks to go on to their next class, which was physical education. Kuroo took out a piece of paper and walked up to the teacher, handing it to him.

"Proposal?" Teru asked Kuroo when he came back as she organized her desk as well.

"Yeah. Since I'm the club president I have to submit a proposal every month. Things like requesting funds, renewal of club equipment, fundraisers, team trips and things like that."

"Heh…" Teru nodded.

"Your react as if you've forgotten that I'm the captain of a team." Kuroo teased.

"Hn." Teru scoffed. It's not like she forgot, she just refused to look at that side of Kuroo. Everyone grabbed their uniforms and headed to the locker rooms to change.

"I'm going to the bathroom first. I'll see you outside." Teru said as she walked into the nearby bathroom with her male uniform in hand.

"Yeah." Kuroo answered. He always did wonder: why did Teru always change in the bathroom stalls, not in the locker room with everyone else? Is he really that shy? Considering Teru's personality, he could kind of guess where his friend's habit is coming from. _'But still, I kinda want to take a close look at his built… especially his legs to see where he gets that jump. Hm. That reminds me, he always wore the longer pants instead of the shorts. Man, that guy is so high-maintenance.'_ He thought as he took off his shirt.

"Damn Kuroo. Did you put on some weight? You're getting buffer every day." One of his classmates said with admiration while changing next to him.

"Yeah dude, your abs look harder."

"Huh. Really?" Kuroo patted his abs.

"Yeah nice pecks, too."

"Ooh, let me feel—"

"Fuck off."

Meanwhile, Teru was sighing as she put on her uniform over her bandages. Although she wore a thin shirt over her bandages, wearing another layer of uniform over that was too much, and it would soak her bandages too easily. And since she couldn't show her boobs covered in bandages in front of other boys, she always preferred to change in the bathroom.

After changing she came out, put her regular uniform and her t-shirt in one of the lockers, and headed out to the gym.

' _I hate how this class only does volleyball, dodgeball, basketball, and soccer…'_ Teru sighed as she headed into the gym, where ironically, they were going to be playing volleyball once again. Because girls were taking their sweet time before changing and the guys would rather play soccer before coming into an indoor gym, she was the first one to show up. Her eyes naturally followed the lining of the volleyball court, the net that was slightly loosened, and the basket of volleyballs that were waiting to be hit around with. She walked over to the basket and grabbed a ball.

To Teru, serving was her favorite. Although she was confident in all areas of the court, starting out the match with her powerful serve sent shivers down her back.

* * *

' _Alright, watch this.' Teru said as she bounced the ball a few times a couple feet away from the baseline. At the side there was a boy who eagerly watched, his fist clenched, following her every movement with his keen, sparkly brown eyes._

 _Teru tossed the ball high up in the air so that it would go past the baseline. She took four small steps, which transitioned into a bigger and cleaner run-up. Upon planting her feet for balance and take-off, she jumped up and drew and arc towards the back of her head with her right hand and loosely aimed her finger at the ball with her left—and swung. With a blasting noise the ball spun at an enormous speed, grazed over the net and knocked off the cone on the other side of the court._

" _Yay!" Teru jumped up in joy._

" _Teru! That was amaaaazing!" The boy ran up to her as well and said. "That was the prettiest run-up I've ever seen from you!"_

" _Right? I practiced night and day for this perfect run-up!"_

" _Yeah! And the speed and the accuracy!"_

" _Actually I only went out about 60% to hit the water bottle! I could smash it harder and it would still land inside the court. Hehe."_

" _And it seems like you've been working on getting higher jumps."_

" _Yeah, I tried to lose weight and plus put extra weight on leg training."_

" _That's amazing, Teru! Man, I can't wait till you use this in a real game."_

* * *

By the time she realized, Teru had already grabbed a ball, standing a few feet behind the baseline, bouncing the ball with her palms. She then caught it in her hand, looked back at the basket to put the ball back—but just couldn't let go of the ball in her hands.

' _I'll serve just once.'_

She then got ready and tossed the ball high up, getting ready for a run-up. Then as she jumped to strike the ball, she saw a tall figure entering the court in her peripheral vision. By the time she hit the ball, the figure, none other than Kuroo, was waiting for the ball. He received the ball, which went flying all the way to the right, hitting a basketball hoop that was hanging off the ceiling.

Kuroo whistled after tracking the ball that he ended up failing to receive. "That was one crazy serve right there. I'm a solid receiver but man, that serve was something." He said, rubbing his arm that went slightly red upon contact. Teru sighed, finding it rather troublesome that the volleyball captain ended up seeing her serve up close.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to nag. I'm kinda bored, you mind passing to me a bit?" Kuroo hunched under the net and came over to Teru's side. Teru remained silent, feeling slightly uncomfortable by his approach. "Like I said, I'm not going to bother you or anything. I just wanna pass until people come."

Kuroo said, tossing the ball. Teru, slightly reluctant, but ended up setting the ball back to him anyways.

' _A clean form._ Say, what position did you use to play?"

"…"

Teru stayed silent for a bit, wondering if she should answer his question or not.

"With your height and receive, maybe libero? Hm, that's weird though, you serve so well."

"…I used to play wing."

"Wing, huh?" Kuroo smiled. "So I guess you were a small giant."

Teru didn't reply to Kuroo's comment. It's not like she was that short among her girl teammates.

"And your serve… Teru, I have a favor." Kuroo said, bumping the ball back to Teru. Teru just listened. "I kinda need practice receiving serves like yours… Do you mind just serving a couple times a day so I can practice receiving?"

Teru then caught the ball in her hand, looking at Kuroo straight into the eyes. "I told you, I quit playing—"

"I'm not asking you to pick up volleyball again. I'm just asking if you could help me out a little bit by contributing about half an hour a day. And plus, if you do, you won't have to deal with all those annoying club presidents coming after you to join their clubs."

That indeed sounded enticing. Lately she's been having trouble trying to avoid other club presidents that would come to look for her and nag her to join their clubs every other minute, some persistent ones coming even after a clear rejection.

"You're not entitled to the volleyball club or anything. I just want you to help me out a bit as a friend. Okay, maybe I'll treat you to food once in a while."

' _It shouldn't be bad, right? Should I?'_

"Let's try it out first. The practice is after school in the big gym."

After school—

"You didn't tell me the whole team was going to be doing this!" Teru whispered to Kuroo.

"C'mon, isn't it implied that the whole team needs to improve?"

Teru grumbled a bit, thinking that she fell for Kuroo's smooth talking again.

"Ohhh! So you decided to join us!" Lev, the tall boy, exclaimed.

"He's not joining, he'll just help our receive practice by serving to us. That's all." Kuroo answered.

"Aww that's not fun."

"Consider having fun after you get a hang of passing, Lev." Yaku said, giving Lev a sour look. While they argued, Teru scanned the team, observing everyone one by one. What she didn't expect was that Kenma, a fragile-looking boy, was a part of the club as well.

' _Hm, I wonder what he plays. Maybe libero? Or since he seems smart, a setter?'_

"Now then, let's start, shall we?" Kuroo said. "All right then, we'll be counting on you, Teru."

"Yeah, whatever. Stupid Kuroo." Teru grumbled and walked over to the other side of the court with a basket full of balls.

"One person gets two receives. After you're done, retrieve the balls and put it back in the basket. Teru, could you do two rotations? That's about thirty serves. How strong did you serve earlier today?"

"Around 40%."

"Good, then can you keep it that way for thirty serves?"

"Yeah."

While the starters got ready to do some serve receives, Nekomata came in and observed the training. "Hou~ So Kuroo did succeed in bringing him over."

"Actually, he's only here to serve so that they can practice receives." His assistant coach informed. "He still insists on staying away from the sport."

"That's still fine. He has to start somewhere." Nekomata grinned mischievously and observed the boy, who was still dressed in his school uniform. The boy grabbed a ball, bounced a few times—and made a clean run up, hitting the ball at a surprising height compared to his stature.

"Ohoho, what a great form!"

The ball flew across the net at an enormous speed, making its way to Taketora, a guy with a blonde Mohawk. The ball dipped right down to the floor just before it made contact with the receiver's forearm and ended up hitting the tip of his knuckles.

"What the—"

"Told you, keep your eye on the ball."

"Man, what a serve. And this is only 40%? Just why did he decide to quit?"

"Personal stuff. Alright keep 'em coming!" Kuroo shouted.

Yaku, the team's libero, couldn't get it right in the first couple times either. He came over to Kuroo and whispered. "Just what is this guy? I didn't think it'd be this good. His serve's ridiculous for his height."

"I know right? He's a better server than everyone in Ubugawa combined."

Kenma then came over, rubbing his arm to ease the pain. "So you ended up bringing him."

"Yeah. It didn't seem like he hated it. In fact, I think he's really into this right now." Kuroo said, glancing at Teru, who was bouncing the ball with his palms. Although he wasn't sweating or anything, everyone could tell that he was putting his everything into this practice.

The first one to perfectly receive Teru's serve was of course the libero, Yaku. On his third try he was able to return, although with a little bit too much spin, right to the setter's position. Teru raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised, since it took a while for most people, even liberos, to get her serves down. _'So he wasn't bluffing when he said everyone in the team is a good receiver.'_ Teru thought, noticing that the starters were getting the hang of returning her serves little by little, at a significantly greater rate than other people she has seen so far.

"Alright, that's everyone. Thanks for the practice, Teru!"

"Thank you very much!" Everyone hollered and bowed, and Teru smiled faintly.

"Next, serves. Take two baskets and serve for the next thirty minutes. Yaku will receive."

With Kuroo's directions, everyone then started to practice serves. Teru was getting ready to leave, tidying up her shoelaces.

"Not bad for someone in pants and sneakers." Kuroo said, approaching Teru. Teru sighed and shot a glare at Kuroo, not saying a word.

' _To hate or not hate. This guy is seriously a mystery.'_

"What?"

"Nothing. I better get some good food out of this."

"Of course, of course."

"What great serves." Nekomata then came over, grinning mischievously with hands behind his back.

"Oh this is our coach, Nekomata-sensei."

"Hello." Teru bowed and greeted.

"I've heard of you from Kuroo. There's absolutely no pressure, so feel free to come and go whenever you like." The old man said kindly.

"…Thank you." Teru said, averting her eyes a little bit. It kinda got to her conscience seeing the old man greet her so warmly. Perhaps she should try harder in pulling away.


	4. Clash

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 4: Clash

Normal / _Text, thoughts, etc_

The temperature in Tokyo rose slowly but surely each day. Students in Nekoma High switched from spring uniform to summer, although Teru still found the tradition a tad bit hot for her.

"Well… I _am_ wearing an extra layer of bandages and a tank top underneath." She mumbled as she got ready to go to school, performing her daily ritual of wrapping an ivory colored bandage around her chest. After finishing, she stood sideways and looked at the mirror to make sure that there weren't any suspicious bumps that were noticeable. Teru checked the clock: 7:30. She's running a tad bit late.

' _But there's no way in hell I'm skipping breakfast.'_ She thought as she took out a small carton of milk and a pre-made convenience sandwich. She gobbled it down, keeping track of the time. Then suddenly she got a text alarm. When she checked, it was none other than Kuroo.

 _FYI transfer student, make sure you have the textbook for Oni-sensei today. Thought I should tell you because you always tend to forget class material. If you left home already, then you're outta luck! :3_

Teru hurriedly packed her textbook, which she did indeed forget to pack. In these kinds of occasions, Kuroo almost seemed telepathic, if not a bit psychic. She then checked the time. 7:47. The gates close starting 8 o'clock. She had 13 minutes to walk (or run) almost two miles.

' _Great. Looks like I'm sweating early in the morning.'_ She thought as she put on her shoes. She was starting to regret having her breakfast leisurely a couple minutes ago. She closed the door, then started sprinting immediately. She couldn't afford to be late to the first period of a Monday, when Onishi-sensei (the "Oni-sensei," or so students called), was in charge. After running for a while, Teru finally reached the gates. The student discipline committee was already out to prepare to close the gates to whoever didn't make it in time. But Teru wasn't going to be one of them.

"10…! 9…!" The discipline committee teacher started counting down and everyone started running. As Teru started getting closer and closer, she saw Kuroo and Kenma, who were already inside the school grounds, with Kuroo looking towards her with a cheeky grin. Thankfully, she made it before it got to a count of 5, and soon enough the gates closed, with some unfortunate students complaining and whining, begging to let them in.

"Phew." Teru finally caught her breath, wiping away some sweat off of her forehead. She then met up with Kuroo on the way, who was grinning like he was very amused by seeing Teru run for her life.

"Mornin." Teru greeted the two.

"Mornin." Kenma said, his voice still a bit groggy from just waking up.

"That was quite close." He said. "It would've been extra hilarious if you got shut out."

"What a great thing to say, ya jerk. Karma will get you."

"When did you leave the house?"

"Like 10 minutes ish ago. I ran."

"For how long?"

"For… let's see… 13 minutes."

"And where do you live?"

"Next to the park."

"Dang, that's pretty far! You're a pretty fast runner."

"I'm actually about to hurl my breakfast right now, so stop making me talk."

"Eh"

* * *

"So, you up for some serves again today?" Kuroo asked. The last bell rang just a few seconds ago and everyone was packing up to go to their afterschool clubs, with the exception of Teru, who was planning to go straight home, although that hasn't been the case for about a few weeks now due to a certain volleyball club captain.

"…"

"Come on~ You always hesitate when I ask although you always end up coming." Kuroo said. He knew that Teru still had a secret attachment towards the sport, and he thought it was his duty to bring it back out. And, plus, they were now what people call the "Kuro times two" in the class. They had gotten that close, much to Kuroo's efforts.

"..."

"Fine. How about I treat you to some ramen afterwards."

"Hm…" At that, her heart waivered. Just a tiny bit. Actually, quite a lot because he was bribing her with food.

"And I think you should, _especially_ because the ramen place has a student special on Mondays where you get 50% more portion for free."

"I'm down."

She and Kuroo headed to the gym where the volleyball practices were happening. She was waiting for Kuroo and the others to change in the club shack. A couple minutes later, Kuroo came back, in shorts and volleyball shoes. Upon seeing her, he handed her something.

"What is this?"

"Training shorts and a shirt. I didn't know your size, so I just grabbed some of the smaller ones. I thought it'd be really hot for you, even if it's just serves. Go get changed. And plus, you don't want to accidently rip your actual school uniform."

"Ah, okay. Thanks." She said as Kuroo handed her spare clothes. She headed to the bathroom to get changed, although she couldn't shake off the skeptical feeling. She felt like she was always getting caught up in Kuroo's pace. She always ended up doing what he had planned. And now there she was, getting ready to change to practice volleyball.

' _What am I doing…'_ Teru sighed as she changed. She still wore her ivory bandages and a spare t-shirt under the training shirt Kuroo gave her. It wouldn't hurt to be too cautious. She then put on the shorts—and then realized that her legs were a bit too feminine for a high school guy.

"Well this is awkward." She said, upon looking into the mirror. There she was, with shorts that came to her mid-thighs; although she always wore much shorter and tighter short-shorts when she officially used to play, this still exposed quite a bit of skin than she would've liked. And not to mention the curves—the line from her waist, to her hips, and down to her thighs—those definitely gave it away. She would've worn it just fine if it weren't for the fact that she was supposed to be a boy in this school. She ended up wearing a medium-size that went to above her knees and tightened the string around the waist.

After somehow putting on the stuff in the least suspicious ways, Teru made her way back to the gym. Upon her arrival they commenced the service practice, with Teru serving baskets of balls and the regulars receiving. Compared to the last time, they were doing _much_ better, with the exception of a guy named Lev.

"I think we're getting the hang of it. Teru, could you now serve as if you're trying to score a point?"

"100%?"

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Yaku, Lev, and Yamamoto were the first to receive. They waited nervously as Teru grabbed a ball, trying to focus. She took in deep but subtle breaths, imagining the ball rocket across the net. She calmly felt the ball in her hands, trying to feel the optimal point of contact. Kuroo felt chills down his back after watching Teru completely immersed in her own world, trying to focus on the ball. Everyone else did as well. Nekomata, who was monitoring the practice, grinned in amusement as he sensed a subtle tension among the team.

Teru bounced the ball a few times. Then she tossed the ball higher up—and then jumped. What first surprised everyone was the height of her jump. Compared to before, when she was serving at about 40%, she wasn't jumping to her fullest. This time, she was at a position where she could spike the ball straight and would still place it in the court.

' _What a perfect, flawless run-up.'_ Nekomata thought.

She then swung—but not only using her arms, she also used her entire body, with her back arched backwards, then snapping back upon point of contact with the ball. The ball blasted across the net—completely passed their libero, Yaku, barely grazing his cheeks, and landing just past the line. It was out. Yaku gulped. He could feel a sweat drop trinkle down his back. He couldn't react to the serve at all, yet alone twitch his toes and fingers. Everyone gapped at where the ball landed, and then turned to Teru.

"Ah, my bad, it went out. It's been a while since I've served with 100%." She apologized. "I'll have to go around 80% if I want to get it in every single time."

"Wha-? Whaaa-?" Yamamoto stuttered, utterly at loss of words.

Kuroo felt shivers down his back. That was the most flawless serve he has ever seen. Not to mention the form, the power and the speed were beyond his imagination, especially when it was coming from this fragile boy who looked like he could barely hold onto a ball.

"That… was… awesome! Kurobana-senpai! Please teach me how to serve!" Lev hollered from the other side.

"Oi, Teru! That was ridiculous! You were really holding back on us, weren't you?" Kuroo came over and said, slapping her back.

"I-It's no use since it didn't go in. I'll try again. Sorry."

"Alright. Everyone get ready!"

The service session went on for a bit more, and then they switched over to 3 vs. 3 practices. Kuroo told her to wait until the practice was over so they could go get ramen afterwards. Teru just sat down on the side, watching the regulars practice.

"…That really surprised me. Your serve." Kenma, who had rotated out, said as he walked over to Teru.

"Ah… ahaha." Teru just chuckled smugly. "I was surprised too. Everyone in this team is a good receiver."

"We are known for our solid receives… with the exception of the setter, me, and Lev."

"Hm… How long have you been playing, Kozume?"

"Kenma is fine."

"Ah, okay. So how long have you been playing, Kenma?"

"I started around elementary school because Kuroo nagged me… most of the time I was forced to practice because of him." He said.

"But you don't enjoy it?"

"Sometimes. It's tiring though."

Teru chuckled. Kenma reminded too much of him, except for the personality.

"How about you? When have you started playing?"

"I guess… around 2nd or 3rd grade in elementary school." She said. "Although I don't really play anymore."

"You don't want to pick it up again?" He asked. When Teru looked at him, he was looking straight into her eyes. Teru couldn't avoid those eyes. She had to answer.

"I…" She averted her eyes, breaking away from the eye contact. "I…"

"Kenma, your turn!"

"Coming."

Kenma then left, leaving Teru bewildered and even more uncertain than before. Then the images in her head flashed by quickly—she quickly shut her eyes, trying to get rid of unnecessary thoughts. Although she had her eyes closed, her ears picked up the sound of the balls bouncing, shoes squeaking, flesh coming in contact with the ball… that alone was enough to remind her of all the things she tried so hard to forget.

' _You don't want to pick it up again?'_ Kenma's voice echoed in her head. _'You don't want to play anymore? You're not going to play anymore? Volleyball?'_

' _Of course not…! Not after what happened!'_ Teru gritted her teeth and stood up.

"Ah, Teru." Kuroo came over after his rotation, wiping sweat away with his towel. "You wanna give it a go? The 3 vs. 3. I'll team up with you."

"I'll pass." She said, getting her stuff together and avoiding his gaze.

"Just once? Pleeeaaase? I really wanted to play with you once."

"No, really… I'm fine."

"He doesn't want to." Kenma said, looking at Kuroo with patronizing eyes. "Kuroo is bothersome to everyone…"

"Aw come on. Why don't you play since you're already dressed for it? Let's play just three points." Kuroo said, wrapping his hand around her wrist—

"Let me go! I said I don't want to!" Teru yelled, still looking down at the floor, with her bag in her hands. The practice came to an abrupt stop as the teammates' attention directed towards the source of commotion, Kuroo and Teru.

"Oi, Teru… what's wrong?" Kuroo drew closer, trying to get a good look at her eyes. He leaned downwards a little bit, until Teru snatched her wrist away and stormed out of the gym. Kuroo, although it was for a brief moment, saw Teru's face—and there were teardrops rolling down her cheeks.

"Kuroo, you're an idiot…" Kenma said, shaking his head lightly.


	5. The Truth

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 5: The Truth

Kuroo just stood there, still gazing at the door which Teru ran out through. Thousands of thoughts popped up in his head. Was he the one at fault? Well, he _was_ being a bit too pushy. But why would Teru get so worked up over that? Didn't he used to play volleyball? Why does he hate it so much now? Maybe it's not a mere "slump" that he's having.

"I knew this would happen sooner or later…" Kenma said, giving Kuroo a disparaging look. Kuroo just clenched his fists, feeling guiltier each passing minute. "What are you doing? Go after him and apologize. Apologies are best accepted right after you make a mistake." Kenma said, still judging him from the corner of his eyes.

"R-Right. Nekomata-sensei, please excuse me for a minute!" Kuroo said as he dashed out. It wasn't his nature to go by without apologizing for his wrongdoings, especially when it came to his dear friend. He started running towards the subway station.

* * *

" _Hey, Teru. When did you start playing volleyball?"_

" _Me? Hm… I guess I started playing ever since I hit a beach ball at my dad's face when I was still in a crib."_

" _Pffffft. What's that all about? 'Genius player Kurobana Teru, learns to play volleyball even before taking her first step.' That's hilarious."_

" _Hey, come on. Maybe it just ran in my blood."_

" _Seeing you play, I don't doubt it."_

Teru dragged her feet towards home, looking down at the ground. To worsen the situation, raindrops started falling, as it was rainfall season.

' _Fuck my life.'_ Teru looked up at the sky, felt a raindrop on her cheeks, and stared back down at the ground. She was still wearing her spare training clothes that Kuroo lend out to her. The rain poured down on her as if it mocked her way back home after running away. Kenma's voice still lingered in her head. Is she going to pick it up again? Although she convinced herself a thousand times before coming to Nekoma, it all shattered down to crumbles upon a touch of the ball and a squeak of the shoes indoors.

While she was contemplating about her worries, Kuroo turned the corner and found his distressed friend walking alone in rain, without an umbrella. He clenched his fists a bit, feeling anxious that his friend might really hate him, but he wasn't the one to back down from apologizing. He ran and called out his friend's name loudly.

"Teru!"

The sound of the rain hitting the ground engulfed Kuroo's voice; he kept on running, and when he got to Teru, he ran around and stood in front of her.

"Teru, wait." He said, putting his hands on top of her shoulders.

"…Why did you come running all the way here." She mumbled.

"Teru, listen." Kuroo said, catching his breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was being overly pushy. I was inconsiderate of your feelings. I'm sorry if I reminded you of things you don't want to remember. You can punch me if you'd like."

Teru just stood there and listened.

"But I want to tell you as a close friend and a fellow volleyball player. I know you don't hate volleyball. In fact, you look the liveliest when you're playing." He said.

Teru just clenched her teeth. Did it look that way to him?

"And plus, I'm your friend before anything. If there's anything you're worried about, I'm all ears. I know there's a part of you that still wants to play. You'll only be in pain… unless you tell me what's going on so we can work it out."

"Work it out? Yeah right. Do you think you can just rub it away? What, you think you're so special to me that I'd just do whatever you say? And close friend? That's funny, I thought you're always like this just so you could have me serve for you. You probably wouldn't even have approached me in the first place if you didn't know I played volleyball." Teru retorted back. _'Why am I saying such harsh words? Teru, stop. You're venting out on a completely irrelevant person.'_

"You're right. I might not have approached you if I didn't know you played. I might have stuck around you to get you to play, you're right. But I don't think the friendship we've built outside school isn't for nothing." He said, feeling guilty but frustrated at the same time. His words just didn't reach her. "Teru, if you think I _forced_ you to join the practice, you're wrong. You could've just said no, we still could have gotten food together, and it would have been perfectly fine. But you're the one who chose to come and play. Not me, not our team, not the food, but you." He said.

And that hit the spot. That was exactly how it was, except Teru just didn't want to admit. She'd be betraying her own promise. She'd be betraying _his_.

"Teru, I'm being honest. It might not have started out the way you wanted to, but you're my close friend. You're one of my _closest_ friends."

"Hah. Friends? Sure. I didn't know you'd be so naïve to call someone your close friend only two months after meeting them."

"…Are you saying you don't feel the same way I do?" He asked, a bit more quietly.

Teru bit her lips. "To me, you're just a person who wants to recruit someone for your team's own good."

Kuroo let out a sigh and a bitter laugh. "…Well, fuck. Maybe I should've told you that it's not like that every single time I hung out with you for the past two months, almost every single day. It's entirely my fault for not telling you that I didn't have ulterior motives, of course. What kind of friend does that, right? My mistakes, I guess I was just thinking one-sided."

After that, Kuroo turned around and started walking back to school. Teru felt tears brimming in her eyes; she just let her head hang low and continued walking home. The rain was still falling hard.

When Teru got home, she took off her wet clothes and stuck it in the washer; she went in to take a hot shower, and when she got out, she lied down on her bed. She doesn't remember what she thought of that moment, or what happened afterwards. She woke up the next morning feeling absolutely horrible; cold sweat was trinkling down from all over her body, her head felt like it was being turned inside-out, and she felt like she was going to freeze to death. She couldn't think clearly, and at least she was glad it was that way.

Meanwhile, Kuroo sat down in front of his desk just before the bell rang, and noticed that even after the bell when the teacher came in, Teru was still not coming. First period, second, and third… one period after another, Kuroo's worries grew more and more. Teru wasn't the type to miss school, as he was rather straight-edged and hardworking when it came to academics.

' _Is he sick? He did go home in the rain yesterday…'_ Kuroo thought. As much as they fought the day before, he was worried sick. _'Maybe I should go visit. Wait…'_ He paused. _'I don't even know where he lives. Great, just great.'_ He sighed. _'And you called him your closest friend, you idiot. You don't even know where he lives or if he has any siblings. Should I call…? No, he'll definitely avoid me.'_

Kuroo headed to club activities after giving up on idea of visiting Teru's home. As he got changed next to Kenma, Kenma casually brought up the sensitive topic.

"So what happened yesterday?"

"…I…" Kuroo couldn't quite spit the words out. "We kind of fought more."

"I knew it…" Kenma sighed. "Kuroo you probably said something unnecessary after the apology. It's as clear as daylight."

"…Yeah."

"Did you talk to him today?"

"He didn't come to school today."

"Huh. Maybe he got sick after all that rain."

"M-Maybe."

Teru was in hell. She's been jumping in and out of consciousness because her fever was running so badly. She wanted to call someone, except there really wasn't anyone in particular that she could call. She spent the entire day in bed and she managed to somehow get better by early morning the day after.

' _I look like shit.'_ She thought as she brushed her teeth to get ready for school. Her face got paler, more slender, and she had bags under her eyes. _'Ah, I should return the clothes from the club…"_

* * *

' _Well, this is awkward.'_

Kuroo thought as he heard Teru pull out his chair and take a seat behind him. He showed up to school, except it didn't really change the fact that Kuroo wasn't going to make any great conversations with him. During breaks, Teru just disappeared somewhere like he did back when he first transferred—and when he was gone, he was completely _gone._ There was no way of finding him.

Meanwhile, Teru had encountered an awkward person #2 as she was looking for a good resting spot. It was Kenma, sitting on a comfy chair with his PSP glued to his hands and eyes.

"Eh."

"Ah." He noticed her from the corner of his eyes; although he didn't budge, he acknowledged her presence by staring at her.

"Um… hi." Teru fidgeted a bit and greeted.

"Hi." He replied and glued his eyes back to his PSP. "I heard you guys fought."

Teru was taken aback by how straightforward this little munchkin could get.

"K-Kind of."

"Did you talk to Kuroo yet?"

"No, not really…"

Silence grew. Burdened by the awkwardness, Teru turned to leave.

"Kuroo might seem like he might secretly run a gang at night, but he's actually a really nice guy." Kenma said, out of nowhere. At his statement, Teru broke out a small snicker. The statement itself was funny, but it was funnier because Kenma had said it so nonchalantly as if it was the truth.

"He wouldn't follow you around and nag unless he really cares. Although it gets annoying a lot…"

"I-I see." Teru said, feeling a bit guilty. She said all those nasty words to him a couple days ago about him not being sincere and whatnot.

"And he's usually respectful of others' personal space, but if someone he cares is having a problem, he will break it down no matter what. You might find him nosy. But he's the type of person who can't stand seeing his friends in pain." Kenma said.

"Did he ever… do that kind of stuff for you, Kenma?"

"Yeah. When I first joined Nekoma volleyball club, I was secretly getting bullied by the third years. No matter how much I tried to pull a pokerface, Kuroo always figured out. After that, it never happened again. I don't know what he pulled... I'm sure it definitely involved a bit of confrontation. To me, Kuroo is a good part of the reason why I still play volleyball although I've had so many troubles. He could be a good reason for you too."

He paused.

"I'm don't know how bad your problem is, so I can really say. You can tell me though. As you can see, I'm not that talkative and I'm not the person to spill anything." Kenma said, turning his PSP off. "Besides, I don't hate you. I wouldn't mind keeping you as my friend and a teammate."

Meanwhile, Kuroo went around the school to look for Kenma, who always liked to hang out at that one spot where it was quiet, dim, and undisturbed by others. As he walked along the hallway, he heard voices—and immediately froze on spot, because he could hear Teru as well.

After Kenma told her that she should let everything out, Teru felt a pang in her chest. His words reassured her.

"I-I might cry, you know." She laughed awkwardly.

"Who said you can't? If you don't like other people seeing you cry, then I'll just look away the whole time." Kenma said and turned his face away.

"You see, I…" After a long pause of contemplation, Teru began. "I played volleyball my whole life. And I was in a pretty prestigious team up until I transferred… I was a captain and my club team won a lot of tournaments. And I had a close friend who always supported me… I've known him since I was eight. He played volleyball too, and he was a hard worker, but he never got chosen as a starter. So he always followed me around only to cheer. I think that was hard—I've been playing and winning, but he was always on the bench. At first, it started out okay, but… the gap grew wider and wider, and he got more anxious. Although he didn't really say it out loud, I knew." Teru sighed, smiling bitterly.

"During the final round of my tournament, he wasn't there when he was supposed to be. He always was. I always looked at him after winning a set. So I texted him in between the sets to see if he was okay… He texted back, said that the traffic was ridiculous and that he couldn't make it." She then paused because her voice couldn't stop trembling. "It turns out that he got into an accident."

Kenma then looked at her. He was an expert in finding hints to people's expressions—he was always good at that. And now, he could tell that for Teru, it was one of the hardest and most painful experiences she could ever have.

She bit her lips, trying to fight her tears.

"He was hospitalized. At first when I ran in right after the tournament, he was in bed with IV drips attached to him. I was freaking out, but he just told me that his bones were fractured a bit and that his muscles had torn badly, and that it'd be okay. I trusted his words. And so I visited him every single day, and for some reason, he was in bed week after another even though he said that it's a minor injury. I tried asking him if anything was wrong, and why they wouldn't discharge him. All he told me was that he's using it to secretly take days off from school, and that eventually they're gonna find out that he's fine. Then one day, I heard one of the doctors say…" She choked. "That he couldn't use his legs anymore."

Kuroo gasped silently at that. Although he couldn't see Teru right now, he imagined that his face would be the most grief-stricken face.

"My best friend, who only wished for my success in volleyball while not being able to do the same himself… who didn't mind all that and sincerely wished for my happiness… he ended up like that while trying to cheer me at a goddamn volleyball game. He never went to the bathroom when I was there, because I'd find out. And what hurt me more was that he smiled through my talks about tournaments, and practices…! He could've at least told me that it's not okay…! Even on the day of the accident, he cared for my game and lied to me that he's stuck in bad traffic… but I don't care about goddamn games or trophies, I would've ran out and gone to the hospital. There are plenty of others who could replace me in the game. I can't replace my best friend, though."

She finally felt her tears that were brimming around her eyes fall down.

" _Why... Why didn't you tell me!?" Teru cried out, clenching her fists._

" _T-Teru…"_

" _Why did you have to hide it?! Am I that untrustworthy of a friend?!" She sobbed, in pain from both betrayal and guilt. "Do you know just how heartbreaking it is to overhear the doctors talk about it behind your back, instead of hearing it from you?! Do you know just how miserable it is for me to hear how they point fingers at me for being so stupidly blind and naïve when I caused all this!?"_

" _Teru, I'm sorry, I was going to tell you..." He said, trying to calm her down. But he was flustered; he didn't know just how to handle the situation. "It's not your fault. Whatever people say, it's not."_

" _But IT IS!"_

"He kept on convincing me that it wasn't my fault, but… How _wouldn't_ it be my fault? And why couldn't he tell me? Why did he have to hide and make me feel more miserable?"

"…I'm sure he had reasons for hiding it from you." Kenma said.

"Whatever the reasons were… I can't bear with the guilt. So I ran away. I transferred schools, I quit my club, and I asked my parents to let me live me alone until I could forget everything. But how could I? Every time I see volleyballs, I want to play, but I think of that guy who'd be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. What kind of friend am I to think that I still want to play after that?"

Teru sniffled. Kenma just stayed silent. Then he eventually opened his mouth.

"Of course it's natural for you for wanting to play. You've been playing your whole life, after all." Kenma said. "And misfortune just happened to pile on top of each other, at a very bad timing. There's nothing you could've done to stop that."

Kuroo gulped. He decided to take the matter into his hands. He wasn't going to walk away and act as if nothing's happened. He walked around the corner and showed himself.

"K-Kuroo…!" Teru was baffled upon seeing him.

"I heard everything, Teru. I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier." He apologized. "Teru, you should stop blaming yourself. Your friend wouldn't want that either. And plus, did you ever talk to him after you last confronted him?"

"…No."

"Then you've yet to find out why he chose to do what he did."

"…"

"Teru, you're scared, aren't you?" Kuroo said, hitting the spot. Teru froze at that. "You're scared for your friend, that's all. And it's only because you treasure your friend so much."

Teru's eyes started brimming with tears again. It was true; she treasured him very much—his cheers, his laughs, his everything, from head to toe. She was scared that her friend, who deserved everything good in the world, had met such misfortune.

"If I were in his position, I wouldn't want you to suffer like this. For him, cheering for you was his happiness, after all. And he'd want you to be happy."

Teru hung her head low, her shoulders shaking from sobbing. "You mean that, right…?"

"Come on, why would I lie about it?" He chuckled, patting her head.

"I agree with Kuroo too… for once." Kenma said as well.

"For once?! What d'ya mean by that, Kenma?!"

"Nothing…"

Teru, who was sobbing, chuckled in between her sobs. She wasn't crying because of pain—but because of relief. Maybe it was a blessing sent from heaven to meet these two.


	6. Integration

Cats Have Nine Lives

Your reviews always encourage me to write more! Thank you so much for everyone who leaves reviews, I really, really, REAAAALLY appreciate it. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6 - Integration

 _Strands of hair fell down off of Teru's head as she quietly snipped away her long hair with her scissors. She had moved into the new place, fighting her parents' demands of helping her move in—the few luggage she had brought were lying around carelessly on the floor. The first thing she did upon moving in was taking out a pair of scissors from her bag and cutting away her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror as she did so, trying to make herself into someone that resembled the least of her old self. She despised who she was. She had to forget herself._

"You're right. He'd wish for my happiness. He wouldn't want me to quit playing." Teru finally said determinedly. "Kuroo, let me join the team."

"Really!?"

"Yeah." Teru nodded. "I shouldn't let my last year of high school waste away like this."

Kuroo smiled brightly and put a headlock around Teru's neck. "I knew you had it in you, you rascal~!"

"Kuroo can be really annoying sometimes… bear with him." Kenma said to Teru.

"I-I've noticed." Teru chuckled. _"Now then… how do I stay at this school without being found out that I'm a girl…?"_

* * *

"We have a new team member. Teru, introduce yourself." Kuroo said. They were all gathered in the gym after school for the volleyball practice. Starting members as well as the rest of the club members had gathered around to welcome the newcomer. Kuroo stood in front, with Teru next to him, looking a little fidgety due to an overwhelmingly concentrated attention. She didn't have any of her volleyball gears with her since she never brought them to her new home in the first place. She was wearing regular sneakers, with slightly oversized kneepads she had borrowed from the club that seemed to fall down every once and a while. With Kuroo opening with a statement, Teru cleared her throat a little.

"Hello, I'm Kurobana Teru, 3rd year. I just transferred last month. My position is wing spiker." She said. It was certainly a new experience introducing herself in front of a bunch of guys, since the only experience she's ever had with volleyballs and guys was a mixed team for recreational purposes. Definitely NOT an all boys' team.

"A certainly promising addition to the team." Nekomata said, grinning mischievously. "Welcome, Teru. As you've observed the last few days, Teru is a formidable player. And an addition of a formidable player to the team means one more competitor for a starter spot. If he seems fit to be a starter, he can and will place any of you. Keep in mind that your position is never guaranteed." He said, ending on a slightly more serious note.

Teru looked around—and saw Lev, the guy who's been claiming that he wants to be the ace, staring at her intently. Way _too_ intently.

"Let's start off with some hit and receives. Kenma, you will have Teru coordinate with your toss. Yaku, you will receive on the other side. Everyone else, split into two sides. You will switch positions after two rounds."

Teru walked over to Kenma.

"Hey." She said.

"Hi. Um… what kind of tosses do you prefer? Although I'm not sure if I can meet your standards…" He trailed off.

Teru just smiled. "Don't worry, you're more than just good enough for me. We'll hit it easy first, and we'll figure out from there."

"Okay."

"Ah, and I can jump high and quick. So you don't have to worry about me being short." She said.

When everyone picked a side and got ready, the team started out the practice with Kenma and another reserve setter tossing. Teru was the first to hit Kenma's toss. Everyone looked closely at the new member. Teru started out with a clean run-up—and jumped. They were surprised by the height of her jump, but also the accuracy. She wasn't hitting too hard. With a clean form, she swung her arm lightly and sent the ball straight to Yaku, who was receiving. It didn't seem like a flashy spike at all, unlike her serve, which was a devastating weapon.

"How was the toss?" Kenma asked.

"On point. Just the way I like." Teru held up her thumb and flashed a smile. It was her first time ever flashing a sincere smile, her teeth showing entirely. Kenma shrugged his shoulders a bit and went back to tossing for the other spikers.

"Add some blocks!" Nekomata then yelled, changing the routine a bit. "Two blockers per spiker."

Teru then got ready to spike against blockers: Kuroo and Inuoka. She made a run-up and got ready to spike—and unlike the one before, the ball made an explosive noise, blasting through Kuroo's arms. Everyone was surprised by the amount of power that went into the ball.

' _This kid…!'_ Kuroo broke a sweat while rubbing his sore arms, nonetheless grinning at the ball that rolled away after hitting his arms. _'He used his fist to spike the ball…!"_

"Nice kill!"

"Nice kill." Kenma said as well, slightly surprised by the sudden change in power.

"Hou…!" Nekomata widened his eyes. _'On top of a flexible body that adds power to the snap, he hits with a fist…! It's incredibly hard to control, but he seems like he's done it for quite a bit. This kid is no novice.'_

"Ehhh, Kuroo. I thought you were a middle blocker." Teru teased a bit, smirking while picking up the ball.

"That I am. I was holding back." He replied.

The practice continued—serve and spike, set and spike, spike and block. Kuroo was putting on a fatherly smile throughout the routine, as watching Teru play made him feel very, _very_ ecstatic.

"Kuroo, stop grinning like a perverted geezer." Yaku said.

"Huhu~ But look at my son Teru. He's perfectly focused." He replied. They then both looked at Teru, who was talking to Coach Nekomata. It seemed like he was giving some advice and Teru was listening in seriously, nodding time to time. After a couple minutes, Teru bowed and ran over to the line, behind Kuroo.

"What'd the coach say?"

"That I should go to the camp you guys are having this week." She replied.

"Of course you should go, you're our team member after all. It's a lot of fun and challenge at the same time."

"Well…" She trailed off. _'I'm a girl and I kinda can't be in camp that's a week long with a bunch of guys if I wanna keep it hidden…'_

"You worried about getting along with the team? Don't worry, you'll be fine."

' _Uh-huh.'_

"Alright, let's switch it around and play a 3-on-3. Kuroo, Kenma, Lev, you're on this side. Teru, Inuoka, Tora, you're on the other side. Everyone else, form a team of three and start the game."

Teru made her way to where Inuoka and "Tora" were.

"Hello! Nice to meet you, Teru-san! I'm Inuoka Sou! Ah, are you okay with Teru-san?"

"T-Te—I mean, Kurobana-san! I'm Yamamoto Taketora! Pleased to meet you!" He said, stuttering and bowing. He was quite nervous to make a conversation with a skilled player.

"Teru's fine. Nice to meet you guys too." She replied and smiled casually. "What are you guys' position?"

"I'm a middle blocker!" Inuoka gleamed, answering much too enthusiastically.

"Wing spiker, sir!"

' _Sir…?_ Ah, wing spiker? Now that I recall, I heard you're the ace."

"Y-Yes! No!"

"Which one is it…"

"Alright enough with chatting! Kuroo, start with a serve!"

"I could toss for you. We'll start off with a simple spike." She said to Yamamoto as they fixated their eyes on the ball. The ball came flying—the first contact was with Inuoka, who passed to Teru. She did a jump-set and sent the ball to Yamamoto's side. He jumped and spiked the ball, only to be shut down by three blockers, two of which were over six feet tall.

"Damn it~!"

"Don't mind." Inuoka said.

"Sorry, that was a bit too low. I'm still really rusty." Teru apologized; it was a bit hard trying to sync with people she's never met, on top of not having practiced for more than a month.

"Y-yes! No!"

' _Which one is it…'_

"We'll try a quick. Jump whenever you feel like it, I'll try to match." She said while laughing at the blabbering ace of the team. "Inuoka, when you make the first contact, get ready to hit."

"Understood!"

The first contact came to Inuoka as expected—then Teru got ready to toss for the two spikers. The blockers were divided, so she tossed the ball to Inuoka, who was facing Lev. Because it was only against one blocker, Inuoka was able to score.

"Nice kill." Teru said.

"Teru-san you're amazing! You know how to toss too!" Inuoka gleamed. "The toss went like bam-! And like shooom, and like paaaa—"

"Well, I did use to play libero and setter because I was short." She replied. "I just switched to hitting a lot so I can practice with my friend who was a setter as well."

"Aaah I see! That's amazing, you're so well-rounded! And your friend must be good too!"

"He is." She smiled, a bit sadly. She shook off the thoughts quickly. "Now, let's rack up some points."

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Kuroo couldn't be more impressed with Teru's skills. _'He's way better player than I expected…'_

"Me too, me too! Kenma-san, teach me how to toss!" Lev said, after witnessing Teru perform in all areas of the court, including tossing.

"Lev! You're not doing jack shit until you first get a hold of your crappy receives!" Yaku yelled from the side.

"Nnnngh! I won't let you take the ace spot, Teru-san!" Lev announced, pointing his fingers at Teru defensively.

"But your ace is right here." Teru said, pointing her thumb at Yamamoto.

"N-N-N-Not at all! You're more worthy of being an ace than me, Teru-san! You hit super hard." He said, waving his arms.

"Well, people did call me the "ace" often. But it's not because I simply hit hard." Teru said, picking up a ball that rolled to her feet. "I'm confident in my volleyball." She smiled confidently. Kuroo grinned at that as well; she was a completely different person when she was standing on court. Or maybe this was the real Teru. He still had lots more to find out about her.

The practice came to an end, and Nekomata had gathered everyone around before the clean-up. "As you are all aware, the training camp will start the day after summer break starts. I have come up with my temporary line-up for the starters." He announced. Everyone gulped. "Setter: Kenma. Middle blockers: Kuroo and Lev. Wing spikers: Yamamoto, Fukunaga, and Teru. Libero: Yaku. There are the players that were picked in order to win. If you believe that you deserve a spot, show with your skills during the training camp. That's it for today."

"Thank you very much!" The members all shouted and left to clean up the equipment. Nekomata then called Teru over;

"Teru, you wear a size small? I think you and Yaku are similar in size. How tall are you?"

"168 centimeters." She replied.

"Just barely taller than Yaku. I think you'll be fine with small." He said as he looked through the box. "There it is." He then took out a new uniform, with a number 10 on the back. "I hope you don't mind that it's a number 9."

"Of course not. Thank you." She accepted politely. The uniform was collared, red and black in color, and had "Nekoma" written in Kanji.

"Ah, and we can't forget this either." He said, going through another box as well. "Here you go."

Teru was handed a training jacket and pants, along with a brand new black and white athletic travel bag.

"And I need your parents' signature on this paper for you to attend the camp." Nekomata held out a piece of paper. Teru fidgeted a little.

"I actually don't live with my parents right now… they're overseas." She replied.

"Ah, is that so? That's fine. I just need a proof of guardian, but I'll be able to sign it. And how are you doing in school? Passing all the classes? Two people in our rival team happened to fail some classes and ended up coming late to the camp." He chuckled.

"I'm doing fine."

"Ah, right. You're in the same class as Kuroo." Nekomata recalled that Teru and Kuroo's class was the college prep, or so-called "advanced" class. "Well, that's all I wanted to give to you today. For more information on the camp, I'll be handing out paperwork tomorrow."

"I see. Thank you, sensei."

"I'm looking forward to your performance!" He said and walked away with a mischievous grin on his face.

' _S-Somehow he just decided for me that I'll be attending the camp…'_ Teru broke out in sweat a little; it happened so quickly that she had just realized that she ended up having to attend the camp. She put her stuff on the wall and went to help everyone else with the clean-up.

"Yo! I see you got your uniform! What's your number?" Kuroo said, rolling a basket of balls to the storage room.

"Number 10."

"Number 10, huh…" Kuroo drifted off, with a mysterious grin on his face.

"Why?"

"It's the same number as this weird kid in our rival school. Called Karasuno."

"Weird kid?"

"Yeah, he hits some pretty ridiculous quicks for a kid so short. He's a Little Giant." He said. "And the setter over there is quite a beast too. Although we beat them every single time we've played them, they've been getting better recently. You see, our school has a tradition of playing against Karasuno. We call it the Battle at the Trash Dump."

"Ah… crows and cats."

"Exactly." He chuckled. "And since you seem like the type to practice a lot, I'll introduce you to this guy from one of the powerhouse schools in Tokyo, Fukurodani."

"Fukurodani…! They're on a national level." She said. She's heard of the school, as it was her habit to follow volleyball tournaments, for both men and women.

"Yup. And this guy is in the top five spikers in Japan."

"Woooow…!" She awed, impressed that Nekoma was having training camps with such strong people. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to attend the camp after all. When else would she get the chance to practice against such strong opponents, and _guys_ , at that?

"A little more interested now?" Kuroo grinned.

"Yeah." Teru replied. "I'm looking forward to it."


	7. Reunion

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 7: Reunion

After practice, Kuroo, Kenma, Teru, along with the rest of the Nekoma members, stopped by the nearby convenience store to get some food.

"By the way, Teru, what are you gonna do about your gears?" Yaku asked as they looked through the isle of snacks and packaged food. He had a point. Since Teru moved in without planning to play volleyball at all, she had absolutely no volleyball gears or whatsoever. Volleyball shoes were expensive, and because she was picky on which shoes she used, it usually took her over a week to try on a bunch of shoes and pick out the ones she liked. Unless…

"Maybe I'll go back to my old place and get it."

"So Teru-san, you didn't move completely?" Lev asked.

"Not quite. Long story." She answered, evading the question a bit. She picked out an ice cream cone, hard candy, chocolate bar, and soda—until she was stopped by Kuroo.

"Oi, Teru. You're back to becoming an athlete now! Don't go around eating junk food!" He said with an appalled face and took the items away from her, putting them back in place as he scolded her. "All this is going to go to your fat, not your muscles!" After having her favorite snacks being taken away, Teru grumbled, muttering "Idiot Kuroo" under her breath, and picked out a carton of milk and a sandwich which Kuroo approved with a smile. After they bought the food, they sat outside the store and finished them. Soon enough they all parted their ways, and Kuroo, Kenma, and Teru were finally left alone.

"Um… Kuroo." She said as she walked next to them.

"Hm?"

"…I…" She trailed off. She was thinking about the camp all along; it definitely sounded enticing, but it was just physically impossible to attend the camp, yet alone future games where hundreds of schools would gather. Her face was pretty well-known in the area she was from, and who knows if coaches or players at the games would recognize her? And plus, she took the starter spot as soon as she joined; she replaced Kai Nobuyuki, the vice president of the club. He was the vice president! His status alone indicates the amount of effort he put into the club, and to think that in his last year he'd be replaced by some guy (well, actually, a girl) that showed up out of nowhere. _'And to think that the old man would actually make such bold decision… he really wants to win, huh?'_

"Is it about the camp?" He asked. He knew that she was still hesitant about going to the camp, let alone being a starter right off the bat. He could tell since Teru avoided looking at Kai, even though he himself was completely fine with it.

"Um… Kind of." She replied.

"Well, whatever your reasons, I think it's better to try first and think later." He said.

' _I don't quite think so…!'_ She sweated a bit.

"Plus, Kai was actually relieved that you took his position since he said he needs to start concentrating on his studies. He's a really smart guy, you see. He's shooting for Tokyo University. So don't worry about taking his place."

"Ah, I see…" Teru said, slightly relieved. One of two main reasons to her concerns was resolved.

"But what matters now is that you're in our team now. Right?"

"Right…" She replied. _'Except I don't know for how long…'_

"I know you're still hesitant. You can't change so suddenly. But I think it's a good opportunity to take a step forward." He said. "That means~ You should hurry up and get your gear! Where is your old place?" Kuroo brought up.

"Near Harajuku. It's about an hour or two away."

"Heh~ Not too far, huh?"

"Yeah. Actually… I think I'll go right now. I'll need it sooner or later."

"Right now? It's already 4, you'll hit rush hour."

"I think I'll be alright." She replied. They soon reached the train station, and Teru was going to take a train that would take her to her old home. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah. And by the way, Teru." Kuroo said. "Maybe you should give your friend a visit."

Teru widened her eyes and stared at Kuroo. Then she broke out into a toothy smile. "Yeah, thanks for the advice."

It took Teru about an hour and forty minutes by train to stop in front of the train station near her old home. She walked for about ten minutes until she reached the doorsteps of her old home, which was left empty due to her parents going for a business trip overseas. She unlocked the door and turned the lights on. The place was kept tidy thanks to her grandmother who dropped by time to time. She walked upstairs, and towards her room. The door was closed shut. She slowly turned the knob and turned on the lights. Before she left, she remembers tearing down and sabotaging all her volleyball mementos, trophies, medals, plaques, posters, and even old jerseys framed on the wall; thanks to someone in her family, the room was back it in its old shape again—the trophies and medals were displayed, plaques, jerseys, and posters up on the walls again. She sighed, smiling apologetically. It caused quite the commotion when it all happened, and her family was the most devastated.

She walked over to her closet, where she kept all her volleyball gears. She had two pairs of volleyball shoes sitting on the rack, one for spare, and her kneepads, along with shirts and shorts. She had spandex, which she wore for tournaments, but—

' _There's no way I'm wearing spandex while I'm in a boys' team.'_

To test out how obviously feminine she looked in volleyball gear, she put on her shorts, shirt, socks and shoes.

' _C-Crap…'_ She looked at herself in the mirror. It was okay the other day because the clothes she's been borrowing from Nekoma club were baggy and mostly for tall, muscular boys. But when she was wearing her own, she just looked like a girl with a really short haircut. She could manage hiding her hips and waistlines with a baggy shirt. _'But my legs…! Kneepads alone don't cover these legs!'_

She examined her legs—had absolutely no hair and were thin, even compared to Yaku, who was a bit shorter than her.

' _Ah, right!'_ She then looked through a box put away in the very corner of her closet. _'It should be here… here it is!'_ From the box, she pulled out a pair of black, long leg supporters that came up to her thighs. She had used them back when she had sensitive joints from jumping too much. _'Good thing I didn't throw it away…'_ She thought as she slipped tem on, making sure that she covers as much skin as possible.

She then looked in the mirror. Her legs weren't as blatantly feminine as before, thanks to the black tights around her upper thigh coming down to mid-calf. When she put on her kneepads, it did a much better job of covering it up.

' _Okay, I guess I'll go with this.'_ She sighed in relief. _'But it's going to be hot…'_

She packed her shoes and spare shirts and shorts (that were relatively longer than her other short-shorts) into her old tournament bag. She also didn't forget her bandages that she needed a lot since she injured her fingers a lot, and also her elbow bands that prevented her elbow from straining too much during her serves and spikes. She packed her sporty socks as well, with good padding on the bottom that would prevent blisters from forming.

After packing up, she decided to take a quick shower and change into a new training pants and a t-shirt. Afterwards, she headed straight to her friend's home. Her hands shook in nervousness the whole time—she turned back a couple of times on the way because she couldn't stir up any courage to face him after everything that had happened. She had run away, and he was left alone.

She was finally in front of his house. She fidgeted around the gates, although the gate itself was left wide open. She looked around the building; the lights weren't on at all.

' _Is no one home…?'_ She finally made her way inside the front yard and rang the doorbell. No answer. She rang it for the second time, and—

"Teru…?"

She heard a voice from behind. She flinched and spun around and found her friend there—in crutches, but still standing.

"It _is_ you!" His face brightened up upon confirming that it was indeed his best friend. He rushed over to her in his crutches; it seemed that he was used to using them. "Aaaagh! Your hair! IT'S SO SHORT NOW! AND YOU GOT SO SKINNY!" He exclaimed, horrified that his friend wasn't in her top shape. She just stood there with her mouth gapped wide open.

"YOU CHOPPED OFF YOUR HAIR! I LOVED PLAYING AROUND WITH YOUR PONYTAIL!" He said.

Suddenly, tears started exploding out of her eyes, flowing down endlessly while Teru remained still.

"WAGH! D-Don't cry!" He fidgeted and wiped away her tears with his hands frantically but gently. Teru then began sniffling."Teruuu!"

As he became more and more frantic, Teru sobbed more and more. She was overcome with sorrow and relief at the same time. The more she cried, the busier his hands and mouth got, trying to stop her from crying.

"I'm sorry, don't cry!" He said, as he cupped her cheeks with his hands.

"Ritsu I'm so sorry…!" Teru finally blurted out, her sobs growing louder.

"It's okay, it's okay." He just smiled and hugged her, patting her head to calm her down. Teru's tears flowed down uncontrollably, and she didn't make any effort to keep her voice down. She sobbed for a good ten minutes until she finally started to calm down, hiccupping a little bit.

"Have you calmed down a bit?" Ritsu pulled away and asked, wiping away her runny tears and nose with his sleeve like it was nothing.

"Yeah…" She mumbled.

"Teru, as you can see, I'm up and walking around! So no need worry so much." Ritsu said.

"But… but…!"

"No buts. Don't go too much into detail, it's not necessary. All that matters is that I'm okay. Right?"

"…Yeah." She nodded, still sniffling.

"Why don't you come in for a bit! We should catch up over juice and snacks." He pulled her hand and opened the door, leading her inside. It was a routine for Teru to always hang out with Ritsu at each other's house, and Ritsu's place was the same as she remembered.

"No one's home?" She wondered. She looked forward to meeting his mom and brother, who she used to see very often and were on very good terms with.

"Nope. Mom's out to visit grandma and Shigeo nii-san is at his part-time job." He answered. "You should come by next time when they're all here! They all miss you too."

"Y-Yeah." She replied. Soon, with no problem, Ritsu brought out juice and snacks.

"So, what'cha been up to? Still playing volleyball? Isn't that your volleyball duffel bag?" Ritsu asked as he sat down and grabbed a cookie. Hearing the word "volleyball" out of his mouth made Teru's heart sink. He said as if it wasn't a big deal. But how could it _not_ be?

"I…" She gulped.

"Wait." Ritsu gave a suspicious look first and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you haven't been playing because you're still blaming yourself or whatever."

"…"

"I knew it! So that's why you even transferred and moved in by yourself!" He planted his palms onto his face and said dreadfully. "Teru, there's no way I would blame you for it!"

"But it's my fa—"

"My good god. Fine. It's all your fault. Then what? What are you gonna do? Stop playing volleyball? How's that gonna help anyone? Is that gonna turn back time and undo that whole accident? If I really blamed you for what happened, I wouldn't have invited you for cookies and juice in the first place, and it's not like I'm _crippled_ , I'm just still undergoing rehab. Jeez, you're smart but sometimes you're so stubborn with these unusual things." He sighed and shook his head sideways. Teru just sat there and listened. It was as if she was getting scolded by her parents.

"There's no way I'd blame you. It was an _accident._ " Ritsu said. "So stop thinking that way. Okay?"

Teru slowly nodded, getting teary-eyed. She smiled nonetheless. It was as if the burden on her back that felt so heavy and painful had disappeared instantly. "Okay!"

"Good. So, tell me. How's school like over there? Did you make any friends? And just why did you chop your hair off again? It's awfully short. Like _really_ short. I thought you were a guy at first from the back." He asked curiously.

"U-Um… I made some friends I guess… and my hair is… well…" She answered.

"Haha, don't tell me you cut your hair because you transferred in as a guy or something. That's such a shojo manga thing." He chuckled and joked.

"…" Teru started sweating. She avoided his eyes.

"Huh?"

"….."

"Wait, don't tell me…"

"Haha…"

"HOW!?"

"U-Um… it kinda just… happened I guess…" She answered. "A-And I'm actually… in the, uh, volleyball club, and I came back to get the gear…"

"And you're in it as a…"

"A guy… yup. Ha.. haha…" She scratched her head nervously. "I'm sorry."

"Holy crap. Teru, you're fucking crazy."

"Hey, I-I was g-going through some emotional turbulence myself, you know. Over what happened back then, and…" She said, ending her sentence with incomprehensible mumbles.

"Well, I can't really help it since it happened. Do you like it so far then?" He sighed and asked, getting over the outrageous point of topic quickly. To him, what mattered more was how she felt about her lifestyle now.

"Mm, it's not too bad. They actually treat me really nicely. And I made this one friend who's the captain of the team and he kinda gave me the courage to come back and meet you."

"Really! I should meet this guy and thank him!" He said and grinned. "So, what's your position in the team now? Ace, right?"

"I'm not really sure yet." She chuckled. "After all, I only joined recently. We haven't really placed in any official matches. Ah, and speaking of matches, we're going to this camp where all the schools are gonna gather! It's a week long. I'll get to meet a bunch of strong people! Fukuroudani is coming too!"

"Fukuroudani! They're strong! And tell me Teru, isn't this "camp" gonna be with all the boys' volleyball team?" He asked as he smiled. But that wasn't his real smile. She could spot a few veins popped out on his forehead. That was not a good sign. "Te~ru~?"

"Y-Yeah." She squeaked.

"Are you out of your mind?! It's an entire week long!? And you're gonna be staying with a bunch of guys!? How are you gonna hide your identity if you're at a camp?! Teru, they're seriously gonna punish you if they find out about this!"

"I-I know. B-But they're really expecting me to play as a team, and… I was gonna tell them! After the camp… I think…"

Ritsu groaned and face-palmed himself. "You really want to play there, don't you?" He asked.

"Kind of."

"Well, if it's your decision, I won't say anything." He sighed. "Make sure you really, reeeeaaally watch out though."

"Yeah. I'll be extra, extra careful."

"But you have to promise me that you're going to be the ace! And make sure you win against Fukuroudani." He grinned. "I want you to have fun and do your best when you play volleyball, no matter where you go. You were always good at having fun and being good at the same time. So do it again for me, okay?"

"I will." She nodded determinedly.

* * *

"The camp will be held at Shinzen High School, like every year. It will be 6 days and 7 nights—we depart on Saturday and come back on Saturday of the following week. Everything is provided with your club budget and the donations from their school's parents committee, so there's no need to worry about reimbursement fees. If needed, you can bring your own money to spend during the camp, although there wouldn't be much opportunity to do so." Nekomata announced as everyone passed around after taking a piece of paper from the stack. It had all the relevant information that the members needed to know.

"As it always has been, the schools participating are Shinzen, Ubugawa, and Fukuroudani. And especially this year, our long rival Karasuno will be joining as well, and we're hoping to continue the tradition with them. On that piece of paper are some important information you need to know; also, I wrote down a list of things you might need, so double check before you pack on Friday. Alright, that's all I want to say for now. Start stretching and warming up. For the next two days, we'll be keeping the practices short so that we don't overwork you before the camp."

"Yes sir!"

The members all went to put away the paper into their bags. As Teru walked over to her belongings, she read through the paper; it had the address of Shinzen High School, and an emergency contact for all Coaches of each respective school. It also had a list of things recommended to pack, including a lot of clothes worth a week, toiletries, towels, snacks (that are not junk food), shoes, reusable water bottles, etc. It also had things that were being provided while at camp: three meals a day, plus snacks, sometimes sports drinks, pillows, bedding, and thankfully of all, air conditioned room.

' _Thank god it's air conditioned…'_ Teru teared up inwardly. She hated heat more than anything, and especially since she was now going to need to wear her "boob hiders" 24/7, she would need air conditioning more than anything. _'Wait. How the hell am I going to shower and use the bathroom?! They better have those single-room, family bathrooms or else I'm in a pinch…! There's no way I'm walking past a bunch of urinals and dicks!'_

"H-Hey Kuroo." She called. "Have you been to Shinzen High School?"

"Yeah, since we go every year." He answered as he put the paper away.

"What's the facility like over there? Like bathroom, showers, rooms, and stuff…"

"The facility?" Kuroo pondered. "Well… the school itself if pretty big, so there's actually a building dedicated for locker room, shower room, weightlifting room… it even has a cafeteria."

"I see." She trailed off. She wanted to ask more about the showers and the bathroom, but Kuroo would definitely get suspicious. What kind of guy gets worked up over shower and bathroom systems? _'That's not enough information… maybe I should call the school when I get home. If worst comes to worst, I'll just beg to one of the girl managers from the other school.'_

When she got home that evening, she looked up Shinzen on the internet and dialed their phone number.

' _Shinzen High School, how may I help you?'_ A woman answered on the other side. She rejoiced.

"H-Hi! Um, I'm actually a manager for the boys' volleyball club in, uh, Nekoma! We'll be going to Shinzen when summer break starts for a week long camp." She introduced herself. _'Great lie, Teru, there's no female manager in Nekoma…!_ And um, we were hoping to know how the facility is arranged so that the girls can stay separated from the boys."

" _Ah, I see. You guys are staying in the building right next to the gym, which is a dedicated facility for athletics."_

"How are the showers and bathrooms set up?" She asked.

" _The showers and baths are all inside the changing room, which is separated for male and female. The changing room is on every floor, and there are a total of four floors in the building."_

"I see… thank you." She said and hung up. _'Shit, shit, shitshitshit…! This is not good. Why couldn't they build individual rooms for showering and changing?! And the bathroom! Why can't they have single-rooms?!'_ She started sweating heavily. _'Should I just tell them…? That I'm actually a girl and that I'm terribly sorry for lying to all of them!? But they're all looking forward to my playing! AND I PROMISED RITSU!'_

She rolled around on her bed, flailing her arms and legs. _'I SHOULDN'T HAVE AGREED TO THIS FROM THE BEGINNING…! Okay. I'm telling them after this camp. That I am a girl. Okay. Agreed.'_

She then gasped, shot up, and checked the calendar on her phone. After checking, she sighed in relief. _'At least my period won't come for another 20 days.'_

* * *

As always, thank you very much for your reviews! I read each and every one very carefully :) Seeing your feedback really propels me forward.

And just out of curiosity, who is your favorite character in Haikyuu? I'm super interested in which characters my readers like. Personally, I feel like Haikyuu is one of those series where you just CANNOT. Absolutely CAN NOT. hate any characters no matter what. I would always have that one "meh" or "ew" character in my bias' team/school in sports animes, but Haikyuu is definitely an exception.

Some of my faves are Daichi, Nishinoya, Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo, Iwa-chan and KusoOikawa. But then again if I were to list which characters I liked then it would take me forever.


	8. Training Camp

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 8: Training Camp

The night before leaving to Shinzen, Teru made sure she had packed everything she needed—including her "boob hiders," which she had to purchase a couple more just in case. The real training was starting tomorrow—and she was ready to face it. The next morning, Teru woke up and left to head for the school. Before she arrived, she left Ritsu a short text: "Off to camp! I'll talk to you again soon."

"There he is! Teru-saaaan~!" Lev waved and shouted, earning a bonk to the head from Yaku, who scolded him to pipe down since it was early in the morning.

"Morning." She said and yawned. She was just ready to fall asleep on the bus. Soon, they loaded their luggage and hopped onto the bus. Teru grabbed a seat behind Kuroo and Kenma, who sat together, and Lev quickly claimed his seat next to Teru.

"Teru-san, can I sit here?" He asked with his signature enthusiastic voice and looks.

"Y-Yeah." She replied. She had a feeling that Lev was somehow semi-stalking her ever since she joined the team, watching her every movement on and even off the courts. He was a nice kid, just a tad bit odd. Plus, she hasn't spent that much time alone with Lev—maybe it was her chance to get to know this guy a little more.

Then she thought of something brilliant: bribing with food. She almost always loved people who gave her free food, and she thought it wasn't an exception for other people to feel that way as well. She pulled out her bag of candies and offered it to Lev.

"Here, have some."

"WOW! THANKS TERU-SAN!" He exclaimed and grabbed a soda pop flavored candy.

"Aah! Teru!" Kuroo turned around and faced the two, who started sucking on the candies they had just opened. "I told you no junk food!"

"This isn't junk food." Teru said. "It's quality candy. See? Vitamin C and D included. What a great source of vitamin." She said nonchalantly, pointing at the label on the bag. "Kenma, you want some too?"

"Ah, thanks."

The bus drove for about two hours until it stopped in the middle of the parking lot in front of a huge school. As soon as the door opened, the restless club members all shot out of their seats and exited the bus.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Teru said.

"My legs are killing me…" Meanwhile, Lev whined as he desperately stretched his legs.

"Well, you do have pretty long legs." Teru nodded. "I guess it comes at a cost."

"Alright, it's this way." Nekomata said. "We'll put away our luggage first."

They climbed up the stairs to the building next to the gym—it looked like three rooms were already occupied by Shinzen, Ubugawa, and Fukuroudani. Nekoma team occupied whichever room that was available. They stepped into a spacious, clean room. Everyone set their bags along the wall and started taking out volleyball gears, as they were headed straight to the gym to join the other schools.

What made Teru a little uncomfortable was that they just started changing without even going to the changing room. It would have been understandable; it's just that Teru was _not_ used to this kind of situation. Even Kenma was changing.

"Oi, aren't you gonna change?" Kuroo asked as he put on his training shorts.

"Y-Yeah. I need to use the bathroom first,so I'll just change there. I'll see you guys later." Teru said and left the room with her change of clothes in her arms. She explored the building, especially the top floor, which didn't seem like it was occupied by anyone. She went into the guys' side of the bathroom so that she could avoid a girl just in case she happened to run into one. Luckily, there were stalls for changing inside the changing room; she went inside and changed out of her regular shirt and pants into volleyball gears.

Meanwhile, Kuroo, Kenma, Lev and the others headed to the main gymnasium to meet the other schools and start training.

"Hey hey hey~! Kuroo! Long time no see!" A boy with spiked gray-and-black hair greeted upon seeing the Nekoma team.

"Sup, Bokuto. Loud as ever, huh?" Kuroo grinned mischievously and greeted as well.

"So, where's the "big shot" that you've been talking about so much?" Bokuto asked.

"Ah, he's going to be here soon—there he is." Kuroo said upon spotting Teru enter the gymnasium as she put on her volleyball shoes. Everyone's eyes pinned on her—even though she was small, everything about her was screaming out "ace," staring from her volleyball shoes, which were limited edition, her elbow band, and her leg supporters;

"Same leg supporters could feel this different, huh…" A boy with curly black hairs and slanted eyes, who was standing next to Bokuto, said upon seeing Teru enter.

"You're so mean, Akaashi!"

Teru walked in, feeling a bit tense from being surrounded by a bunch of guys. She soon spotted Kuroo, who was gesturing at her to come over to where he was.

When she walked over to them, she realized that one of the boys looked very familiar.

"These guys are from Fukuroudani. This one's Bokuto, this one's Akaashi." Kuroo introduced them to her.

"Yo! I'm Bokuto Koutarou. I'm a third year." A guy with spiked gray and black hair said with much enthusiasm. He resembled a horned owl somewhat, with his round, beady yellow eyes and his hair.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Akaashi Keiji." Another boy with curly black hairs introduced himself politely.

"I'm Kurobana Teru. Nice to meet you guys." She said. "Say, I've seen you somewhere before…" She pondered upon observing Bokuto. "Aaah! Aren't you one of the top 5 aces for high schoolers nationwide?!" She finally recalled and exclaimed.

"Hehe~ That's me! I'm number four in the nation!"

"Just missed top three." Akaashi said.

"Don't mind." Kuroo patronized and put his hand on Bokuto's shoulder.

"Ugh! I-It's okay! I'll beat that Ushiwaka sooner or later! Muhaha!"

"Wow! I've been looking forward to playing your school so much!" Teru said, her eyes sparkling.

"Same here! Hey, Kuroo told me that you're a pretty good player. What position to you play?" Bokuto asked.

"I'm a wing spiker."

"Oooh! So you're striving to become an ace as well!"

"I only joined last week, so…" Teru chuckled, although she didn't refute his statement. She had promises to keep with Ritsu: to become an ace and to beat Fukuroudani. "But I look forward to beating you guys in a match." She put on a confident smile.

"Hoho! Challenge accepted!"

The coaches from each school had called everyone forth, so Teru's meeting with Bokuto and Akaashi had to end there.

"Oi, Teru. You sure we can beat them? They're the strongest school out of everyone here." Kuroo said as he walked next to Teru as they made their way to where Nekomata was.

"I know you guys are already a strong enough team." She answered. "And plus, you have me on the team." She grinned.

"Heh, that's a bold statement." Kuroo grinned as well, putting a headlock on Teru and ruffling her hair.

They first warmed up and soon, the practice matches began. First up was Ubugawa, which was also a pretty strong team. Before beginning the matches, each team member received his training jersey with a respective number on the front and back. Nekomata had gathered everyone around the coaches' bench before starting the match; he pulled out a whiteboard with the members' positions on it. Teru was starting out at a serving position. Kuroo, the captain, came back to relay the results of the coin toss. They were up to receive first.

"Ubugawa's known for their strong serves. But you are all masters at receiving—make sure you get the ball up, and someone else will connect the ball." Nekomata said, scanning the starting members.

"And Teru, try to go all out with your serves. I want you to test your limits."

"Yes sir." Teru nodded.

"Alright. Captain, do your thing." Nekomata said. Kuroo then gathered the team around for a huddle. Teru gathered in, thinking that it was a normal cheering routine and waited for Captain Kuroo to start an opening cheer. Instead—

"We are the body's blood—"

' _What…?'_ Teru's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Flow smoothly—"

' _The… hell…?'_

"Circulate oxygen so that the brain functions normally."

"What… the…" Teru looked at Kuroo as if he grew another head.

"It's to get us pumped up!" Lev said. Although he at first found it weird as well, he had gotten used to it. In fact, he now thought that it was cool that Nekoma had its own signature phrase.

"It's okay, I still can't get used to it…" Kenma mumbled.

"U-Um… yeah I don't think I can get used to it." Teru said. "And don't tell me the brain is…"

"Yeah…" Kenma sighed.

"Ah. Congrats."

"Penalty for losing is running up that nasty hill outside! So let's win and shoot for no penalties!" Kuroo shouted.

"Alright!" Everyone cheered up. At least this part was normal.

Teru went to the very right of the back line. The members got ready as a guy who looked like a fish was getting ready to serve on the other side. To the left of Teru was the middle blocker Lev, who was put in the same line as Teru since only she or Kuroo could manage to balance his poor receiving skills. Teru deduced that the fish head will aim his serve at her mainly because it had the most comfortable course for a right-hand hitter, but also because she seemed the most vulnerable out of everyone who was up to receive.

The referee blew the whistle. The fish head bounced the ball a couple times, then tossed the ball high up in the air, running up to jump and hit the ball. The serve, as expected, was powerful—but nothing that Teru couldn't receive. It was simple: had speed and power, but only a slight topspin that didn't alter the trajectory. As long as she kept an eye on the ball, she could receive it with no problem.

And she did. The ball gently ceased to spin and made its way to Kenma, who coordinated with Kuroo for a quick.

"Nice kill!"

The ball made its way to Teru, who was up to serve. She bounced the ball a couple times and aimed it at the left corner, where the fish head was. She tossed the ball high up and started running, jumping up powerfully to reach the ball at the apex of her highest contact point. At the same time, she used the entire body to bend and snap forward for an extra punch to her serve.

The ball blasted its way across the court, barely grazing the white tape of the net, and landed exactly on the corner of the court, touching the line. The line judges called it in, and Nekoma earned a point with a service ace.

"Nice serve!" Everyone came over for high-fives.

"One more!"

This time, Teru aimed the ball at the middle of the court. To her, this was the hardest since she had slightly less distance where she could serve the ball in, compared to the corner of the court. This time, she decided to be safe and serve a floater.

She used less force, but the form of her hitting the ball was different from before. The ball still travelled at a fast speed, but that wasn't the main problem of this serve. To the receiver on the other side, the ball traveled in all directions: dipping down, shaking sideways, travelling in a straight line—and the ball ended up grazing the receiver's arm.

"Hou~ not bad!" Bokuto, who was playing his own match against Shinzen, saw the last two points which had been won by Teru.

"He's a very solid player." Akaashi agreed.

Teru got the ball back to serve again. She was now aiming for the right corner. She served as equally as hard this time—but the receiver managed to bring the ball back up with sheer force. They ended up winning the point with a wipe, or a block-out. The first match against Ubugawa was standard. They kept a simple style of playing and had won with their tenacity in receives.

Thankfully, they didn't have to carry out the dreadful penalty. Teru replenished with a bottle of water while trying to catch her breath. Being on a receiving side with Lev was a tough task since she couldn't perfectly guess where his passes would go. Any tosses that strayed away from Kenma had to be picked up by Teru.

"Teru-san, Teru-san! How did I play?" Lev bounced around Teru and anticipated her compliments as he looked at her with much eagerness.

"Lev…" She said as she caught her breath. "You… should work with Yaku a little more…"

"No waaaay!" Lev clenched his hair. He hated receives and will always hate it.

"You heard him, Lev. You're far from being an ace with that kind of crappy receives. You had Teru running around and covering your ass all day. Aces don't need their asses covered." Yaku shot a glare at Lev and he just grumbled, mumbling incoherent words.

"You really went all out on your serves today, huh?" Kuroo came over to Teru and said.

"Well, the coach _did_ say I need to know my limits." She said. "But I'm pretty tired out after all that, I'm not gonna lie."

"I hope you're still good to go, since we're going to be playing Bokuto this time."

"I'm still good." She said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

After a quick break, Nekoma and Fukuroudani gathered around the same court.

"Hey hey hey~! We're shooting for no penalties during camp!"

"I think that's impossible, Bokuto-san." Akaashi said bluntly.

"Akaashi! Support me for once!"

"Just watch, we're going to win." Kuroo said and sparks started flying between Kuroo and Bokuto.

"…Are they always like this?" Teru asked Akaashi as the two spectated this unusual but interesting interaction.

"Pretty much." He replied.

"You have it hard on yourself, don't you." Teru sighed and pat Akaashi on the back, giving him a patronizing look after seeing Bokuto squabble with Kuroo, which later turned into a rock-paper-scissors and thumb war for some unknown reason.

"I do." Akaashi sighed as well.

After the two captains were stopped by Akaashi and Teru, they all gathered on their respective side of the court. The starting lineup was the same as before; this time, Nekoma was up to serve first.

"Nice serve, Teru!" Kuroo shouted as he put his hands out front to get ready for a block.

"Man I'm excited to see it up close~!" Bokuto grinned.

Teru bounced the ball a few times. The referee blew on the whistle. Teru held the ball out at the front, and tossed it up high. She chased the ball with her eyes, making a run-up to jump as high as possible. She hit the ball as hard as possible, using her entire body to snap forward.

The ball rocketed its way across, straight to Bokuto. He held his arms out front, but the ball went off-course after he made the contact at a wrong angle.

"Service ace~!"

Everyone came over to pat Teru on the back, give high-fives, ruffle her hair and whatnot.

"Phew~ That's some crazy serve for a guy so small." Bokuto whistled as he rubbed his arms.

The game continued, and neither team backed down. With Kuroo in the front, he was able to block and interrupt most of the spikes, including some from Bokuto. Teru admitted that Bokuto wasn't in Top 5 by pure luck. His spikes had power behind it, and he was able to maintain a high success rate. Bokuto also thought that Teru wasn't some half-assed player from a random school. Teru was skilled and had her own know-how of playing, which could only be developed through years of training and competing. And plus, she had an unexpectedly deadly punch behind her small body.

Akaashi noticed the same, being a setter who was coordinating with many spikers in the team. Teru had a strong foundation in all areas to the court, and was what people would call a "pillar" of the team. She did not hesitate even a single moment and she carried out her plays with confidence.

' _I feel like I've seen him before somewhere…'_ Akaashi thought as he watched Teru drink some water in between time-outs. _'Where have I seen him…?'_

The game continued; Nekoma came very close to Fukuroudani with a score of 27-25, which Teru was slightly disappointed with.

"Don't worry, we'll win next time." Kuroo said.

"Yeah. Also, I think we need more variety in offense, since our defense is pretty solid." Teru said as well. Kuroo agreed, since the only spiker with a high success rate in offense was Teru. She was versatile with how she hit—she didn't only resort to hitting hard. She knew how to manipulate the course of her balls while controlling her power, as well as pull some feints here and there that caught the other team completely off-guard. With a player like her, who was a solid all-rounder, the options for offensive and defensive plays increased for Nekoma.

"Well said, Teru." Nekomata said. "Your goal for this camp is to improve as much as possible. Increase the way of winning as much as possible. And since we practically have two setters now, we can come up with more plays." He grinned.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now then, let's get to working on it. But first, you guys have a penalty to carry out."

"Eh"

* * *

Thanks as always! ;)

I read each and every one of your review very closely! It really propels me to write more.

See you again soon!


	9. New Friends

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 9: New Friends

The Nekoma team lined up at the bottom of the hill. For a lack of better words, the hill looked _deadly_.

' _God… how am I gonna run up_ this _thing?!'_ Teru dreaded, especially since it was scorching hot that day, with not even a spec of cloud.

"Go!"

With Kuroo's call, everyone sprinted up the hill. Teru ran with Lev chasing right behind her. After running back down, Teru felt like her chest was going to burst—and her "boob compressor" wasn't helping at all.

' _I can't do this a lot or else I'll really pass out…'_ Teru thought as she tried to catch her breath, putting her hands behind her back and expanding her chest as much as possible. _'But… this is fun…!'_ She grinned as she huffed and puffed.

"What're you all grinning about? Do M." Kuroo snickered.

"Do M—Hey. I'm not enjoying this penalty at all." She shot a glare at Kuroo.

"You were grinning though."

"No I wasn't."

"You were."

"Did not."

"…"

"…"

"You did."

"DID NOT."

After the penalty, they took a 30-minute break from practice. Kenma, of course, went back to his video games like he always did during breaks, saying that "Teru should be able to toss for you guys, so leave me alone you lumps of muscles." Kuroo called up Teru so that he could coordinate with Lev on blocks.

"Tora, you're going to be hitting." Teru said.

"Yes sir!"

During the middle of their practice, Teru noticed that Kenma suddenly disappeared to nowhere from that one inconspicuous corner he was sitting at; he wouldn't have gone outside since he hated the sun. It wouldn't have been bathroom because he didn't come back to put his treasure (PSP) away in his bag.

"Kenma's gone." Teru said.

"Ah, he probably went to fetch his friend from Karasuno." Kuroo answered.

"Karasuno!? That means Hinata's here! I'm going to go get him tooo!" Lev exclaimed and dashed right out, leaving the rest of the team on the court.

"Never mind him. Teru, why don't you do some blocks with me? You're okay with blocking too, right?" Kuroo said.

"Yeah."

"Oooh! Let me in too! I wanna hit!" Bokuto came over with Akaashi behind him.

"I guess he'll be a good opponent. Let's see how much you can jump without any run-ups~" Kuroo grinned mischievously, purposely resting his arm on Teru's shoulder to emphasize her height.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ short. And plus I'm still growing."

"Yeah~ yeah. Chickpea."

"Oh, you're on."

This time, Teru practiced blocks with Kuroo next to her. Akaashi tossed for Bokuto—and when Bokuto hit towards Teru, who was covering the sidelines, Teru jumped up—almost as high as Kuroo. But Bokuto's hit was powerful, and it blew past Teru's arms.

"Yeeee!" Bokuto cheered.

"Come on Teru~" Kuroo teased.

"Don't worry, I can get it next time." She said, shooting him a glare.

This time, Teru jumped up a little later than Bokuto so that she could be at her highest jumping point when Bokuto swung his arm. She put her arms out firmly and quickly traced the ball. The ball came into direct contact with her forearms and bounced back, right onto Bokuto's feet.

"Dammit~!"

"Hehe." She grinned.

"Hou~ not bad, not bad!"

"Of course." She said, lifting her head up.

Akaashi stared at her while Bokuto flailed around, still dreading over his unsuccessful spike. He thought it was weird that a player of that caliber wasn't already well-known in the area. Even if he was a transfer student, he would've heard of, or seen, a player like Teru. To him, not only was Teru a stellar hitter, but also a solid player in essentially all areas of the court, good enough to be in a libero position as well as a setter. So why did this guy, who's on a nationals caliber, transfer school all of a sudden instead of being in a team with a national-level player like Sakusa at Itachiyama?

"Kurobana-san." Akaashi called.

"What is it? And Teru is fine." Teru replied.

"Which school did you attend before transferring to Nekoma? Were you in Tokyo?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"U-Um. I went to Shishigaku." She said, giving him the name of the actual school that Teru went to. _'GAAAH! TERU YOU IDIOT! WHAT IF HE STARTS LOOKING UP PHOTOS!?'_

"Shishigaku, huh… I'm not very familiar."

"Y-Yeah. Our volleyball team isn't very competitive." She said, which was part true and part false. The girls' volleyball team, which she used to be on as a captain, was competitive and had won nationals during her stay. The boys' volleyball, on the other hand, wasn't quite on that level.

"I see. It's just hard to believe that a player like you isn't well-known in the area." Akaashi said.

' _W-Wait. That was a compliment right? From Fukuroudani's setter?!'_ Teru thought. "Hehe, why thanks! But I still have too much to improve."

Akaashi smiled. "Maybe you should've transferred to Fukuroudani instead of Nekoma."

"Not so fast. You wouldn't have been able to convince Teru back then." Kuroo said.

"Maybe I should…" Teru gave it a deep thought.

"Teru!?"

"Also that way I'll have one more person that could help me with keeping Bokuto-san under control." Akaashi said.

"Ah, then no thanks."

"That's so mean!" Bokuto exclaimed.

While they joked around, Karasuno entered the gym, with Kenma and Lev next to a small boy with bright orange hair. They greeted and everyone in the gym greeted as well. "Everyone, break time is up!" One of the coaches yelled, and they all went to meet their school's coaches. Nekoma gathered around Nekomata after putting their kneepads and jerseys back on.

This time, they were going to play another practice match against Ubugawa. Karasuno faced Fukuroudani while Shinzen held a practice routine on their own.

"We won't lose a second time." The fish head from Ubugawa declared.

"Heh~ Let's see what happens!" Kuroo smirked.

The match began, with the same lineup. Except this time, Ubugawa was wearier of Teru, who scored the most points during the last game—it made things harder for Teru since she kept on getting marked during spikes and being avoided when she was receiving.

"Kenma." Teru called him over and whispered something to his ears. "Could we try?"

"I could… I think…"

"Let's just try it! It's a practice match anyways." She grinned. "If it goes well, it'll be frickin' awesome."

"Okay." He replied.

The next point, when Nekoma was receiving, the serve went to Yaku, the libero. Before the ball made its way down, Kenma and Teru switched places—and Teru tossed to Kenma, who hit a quick right beside her.

"Nice kill!" Everyone cheered, seeing a surprise attack from the most unexpected person in the team.

"Nice toss." Kenma said as he high-fived Teru.

"Nice kill, Kenma." She grinned.

"Damn, Kenma and Teru~ You really pulled one just now!" Kuroo said as he smacked their backs.

"That was so cool, Kenma-san! And Teru-san!" Lev hollered, getting all fidgety from excitement.

"Hohou~ And here I thought Teru was a cautious player all along but he's quite the wild horse too!" Nekomata chuckled as he watched from the sidelines.

"He really is a formidable ally. Good thing Kuroo got him to join." Naoi, the second coach of Nekoma, commented as well.

"UUUOOOOH! Kenma just hit a spike!" The fluffy, orange-haired boy from Karasuno, Hinata, hollered after witnessing the play by Kenma and Teru. "And Nekoma's number-10-san! He knows how to toss!"

"Suga, he's a new face, right?" A guy with his hair tied up and a goatee said.

"Yeah, he's definitely new. From what Hinata's been saying, he transferred into Nekoma." A guy with silver hair and a beauty mole underneath his eye replied. "I wonder how good he'd be to become a regular just after transferring. And Nekoma at that."

Karasuno members all stared at the new formidable opponent.

"Oi, Teru. They're all looking at you." Kuroo whispered.

"Hm?" Teru turned around and saw Karasuno members all staring at her while they were taking a break in between time-outs. She then spotted a kid wearing a number 10 jersey—a small boy with bright orange hair, who she recalled hearing about from everyone in Nekoma—and she smiled at him. Upon seeing her smile, the boy flinched and ended up dropping his water bottle, earning a scolding from a taller boy with navy hair, which Teru chuckled at because she found him pretty adorable.

"Don't go scaring little kids, Teru." Kuroo teased.

"I didn't scare him. I just thought he was a cute little kid." She replied, scoffing.

The game resumed—they were able to beat Ubugawa again, with a score of 25-20. The new tactic that Teru had come up with played a huge role in throwing the opponents off of their defensive game. They had finished before Karasuno and Fukuroudani finished; they went over to spectate the match. Teru was of course surprised with how high the number 10 kid jumped. But it seemed like Karasuno wasn't quite succeeding in any of their attacks; their quicks and tosses were failing one after another, their synchronized attacks had been failing, and their libero tried tossing but ended up missing the ball.

' _But it looks like they've just begun to try things out.'_ Teru thought as she watched the players communicate with one another. _'What an interesting team!'_

After Karasuno and Fukuroudani finished, they gathered in the cafeteria for lunch; the managers were helping out with handing out food. They provided balanced meals, with emphasis on carbs and proteins for athletes. After getting her portion of food, Teru chose an empty seat and placed her plates down. When she looked around, Yaku, Kai, and Fukunaga were eating with Sugawara from Karasuno, and next to him was a bald guy named Tanaka, who was joined by Yamamoto. Then she noticed three figures standing over her: it was Lev, Kenma, and the kid from Karasuno.

"Teru-san! He wanted to meet you all along!" Lev exclaimed, looking at the bright orange-haired kid from Karasuno. He fidgeted, panicking a little, but nonetheless he spoke up.

"N-N-N-Nice to m-m-meet you, Teru-san! I-I mean, Kurobana-san! I'm Hinata Shouyou, first year!" He introduced himself, almost yelling out (which earned funny looks from people around), and bowed his head.

"Teru is fine." She chuckled, finding it very adorable. It wasn't very common to see someone in volleyball teams, especially guys, who were shorter than her. But this guy was definitely shorter. Now that she recalled, there was a shorter one—a libero from Karasuno. She found him extremely adorable as well—more like she found anything that she could pet on the head while looking down extremely adorable.

"Teru-san, can we eat with you?" Lev asked, although he was already settling his plates down.

"Of course." She replied.

"Oya? Looks like a little birdy got mixed in~" Kuroo said as he set his plates down next to Teru, grinning at Hinata.

"Hiiiieee!" Hinata freaked out since Kuroo looked rather intimidating to him—or rather, he looked intimidating in general.

"Hey, stop scaring him." Teru nudged Kuroo.

"I wasn't~" He answered.

"Don't mind this guy. Although he looks like this, he's nothing." Teru said, and Kenma nodded along as well.

"So mean!" Kuroo said.

"But really, I was surprised." Teru completely ignored Kuroo and said to Hinata. "You're quite the player for your height."

At Teru's compliment, Hinata grinned and chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"T-Teru-san too! You're the best player I've seen since the Great King!"

"Great King?"

"He's a guy named Oikawa Tooru in Miyagi!"

"Ah, now that I recall…" Teru thought. "I do remember hearing his name time to time. He was a setter, right?"

"Yeah!"

"But Miyagi's more known for that Ushiwaka, right? Number 3 ace in the nation." She asked.

"Ushiwaka! Ushiwaka's strong! I ran into him when I was out for a run last time."

"Heh~ I've never really met any of these guys, I've only heard of it. It'd be nice to see them play."

While they chatted they finished up their food. Hinata was a bright and friendly kid, and Teru was oddly fond of him. He was like a little brother that she always wanted. They finished up their food and resumed practice; this time, Nekoma was up against Karasuno. Since it was after eating, they warmed up a little bit with some spikes and receives before starting the match.

Teru had hit her spike and went to the other side to pick up the balls. As she was picking up the ball, she noticed Karasuno's manager walking over to pick up the balls as well. Teru then noticed a stray ball approaching her at a fast speed.

"Watch out!" Teru reached her hand out instinctively and snatched the Karasuno's manager's arm with one hand and blocked the ball with the other. She looked to see who had hit a cross from Nekoma, when they were supposed to be practicing straights.

"LEV! YOU'RE PRACTICING STRAIGHTS, NOT CROSSES!" Teru yelled, although he was already getting scolded by Yamamoto. "Are you okay? Sorry, I might have yanked your arm too hard. That guy just started volleyball, so he's a still a little rough on the edges." She apologized. She then got a good look at her face; she was ridiculously gorgeous. She had glasses on, and she had a beauty mole under her lip. _'Oh damn she's pretty.'_

"Ah… t-thank you." The manager stuttered a little and bowed, then hurried away. Teru didn't notice a pink tint to her cheeks as she ran away, however. Teru just shrugged and thought that she must be a really shy person. When she came back, Kuroo whistled and threw his arm around her shoulder.

"Wooow what a gentleman~" He cooed.

"Honestly, if you don't do what I did at that moment, you're just a plain asshole." She scoffed.

"True, true." Kuroo nodded, but still grinned at Teru.

Teru then realized that she was getting intense stares from someone—when she looked around, there were two boys from Karasuno glaring at her, fires coming out of their eyes. One was the bald guy, and the other one was the short libero from Karasuno. Teru thought that they were glaring at Lev, who happened to hit a ball and almost hit their precious manager—but the truth was, they were glaring because Teru had made a physical contact with their beloved Kiyoko-san.

After a few more minutes of warm-ups, the match started, with Karasuno serving first.

"Nice serve, Kageyama!"

The other team shouted, cheering for the guy named "Kageyama," who was up to serve.

"He's a good server! Make sure you get the ball up!" Yaku said.

' _Hm, if Yaku says so, then he must be a really good server.'_ Teru thought.

The boy hit a jump-serve; and it was indeed powerful. The ball came straight to Yamamoto, but the receive was a little off. Kenma, who was close by, got in position to toss.

"RIGHT!" Teru yelled.

"Teru." Kenma said, tossing high up.

Teru followed the ball and made a run-up. She was up against three blockers: tallest guy with blond hair and glasses, then a guy with a beard, and Karasuno's captain. Instead of going for a cross, she aimed straight where there was a little bit of space left by the tallest blocker. She swung her arm a bit less harshly this time, aiming more for accuracy than power. The ball, upon contact, made its way in between the blocker's arm and the pole, and landed directly on the sideline.

"Nice kill!" Nekoma cheered and came together for a high-five with Teru.

"Uooooh! That was such a hard shot to make!" Hinata gleamed from the other side.

"It looks like we've underestimated him." Karasuno's captain said, smiling nervously. "Let's make sure we don't give him space next time."

After earning a point, it was Teru's turn to serve.

Kuroo grinned at Karasuno's captain. "Make sure you don't blink~"

Karasuno's captain was definitely confused at Kuroo's comment. Kuroo covered the back of his head and yelled "Teru nice serve!"

Teru bounced the ball a few times and tossed the ball up, hitting a jump serve—and like Nekomata said, with _all_ of her might. Perhaps this serve was the fastest one of the day yet; even Kuroo, who was beneath the net, felt the wind as the ball passed above him. The ball landed right next to the libero's feet. He was barely able to flinch.

"Nice serve~!" Nekoma cheered again.

"H-Holy crap…" The bald guy mumbled.

"Th-That was a really good serve." Karasuno's captain said. _'HOLY CRAP!? WHAT THE HELL!? THAT'S JUST AS FAST, IF NOT FASTER THAN OIKAWA'S SERVE!? BUT HE'S ABOUT THE SAME HEIGHT AS NEKOMA'S SETTER?'_

Kuroo smirked upon seeing their reactions. _'Hehe~ Of course, it'd be weirder to stay calm after that kind of serve from a guy that tiny.'_

"Damn… that was one hell of a serve…" The libero mumbled as well.

The match resumed; Karasuno was still struggling with increasing success rates for their attacks, so Teru and the others were able to crush them 25-15. But Teru knew that each one of those players was very talented. Especially the captain—he gave Teru a hard time since he picked up a lot of Teru's serves. After going around for a practice match against every school, the players met up with their respective coaches to work on areas they needed improvement. For Nekoma, they began focusing on creating a variety of attacks, starting from two-setter attack, pipe, Yaku tossing, and etc.

"It's looking great, everyone." Nekomata said. "Very good work on your first day at camp. It's almost time for dinner; eat food, and you have free time until nine o'clock tomorrow. Cafeteria opens tomorrow at seven, so make sure you get breakfast before you come in. Whoever's late will be running up the hill five times. Alright, you're dismissed!"

"Thank you very much!" They all bowed and rushed to the cafeteria.

' _Man, I'm starving.'_ Teru thought as she wiped off the sweat on her forehead with a towel around her neck. _'It's been a while since I've had such an intensive camp…'_

"Hey hey, Teru~! Let's go eat!" Bokuto suddenly appeared from nowhere and put his arm around her neck, putting a headlock on her. Teru obviously looked uncomfortable in nation's number four ace's headlock, so Akaashi stepped in.

"Bokuto-san. Your headlock is a bit too much for anyone to endure. You arm is thicker than Teru-san's head." Akaashi said. "Ah, his face is turning red."

"Oh! Ahahahahaha! Sorry, Teru! Didn't mean to choke ya!" He let her go and laughed.

"Bokuto, please do have in mind that your arm is twice the thickness of my neck." Teru said.

"Okay!" He said, putting his arm around her again.

' _Do you_ really _understand…?'_


	10. Goodbye Old Friend

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 10: Goodbye Old Friend

Teru finished eating with Kuroo, Kenma, and some of the other Nekoma members (and Hinata) that joined in. She checked her phone, and saw that Ritsu had called a couple times throughout the day. Upon finishing her meal she hurriedly grabbed her phone, left the building and went to a quiet courtyard near the gym and called Ritsu.

" _Teru?"_

"Hey! Sorry I didn't pick up the whole day. I wasn't near my phone." She said apologetically. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint Ritsu in any way, even if it was something trivial.

" _Nah, it's cool. Just curious about how you're doing."_ He chuckled.

"Oh! I did meet the number four ace in the nation. From Fukuroudani." She said excitedly.

" _Really!? What's he like?"_ He asked excitedly.

"A little goofy but he's a nice guy. Really good at volleyball. He hits like a tank." She said and laughed. "And the setter over there is really good too!"

" _So you played a match against them? How did it turn out?"_

"We lost… 25-27…" She said, a little disappointed. "It was so close."

" _Hey that's pretty good though! Not a lot of school teams can face Fukuroudani especially considering how you just joined. Maybe if you guys improve teamwork and strategy, you'll beat them in no time!"_ He said, wanting to encourage her.

"Yeah! Actually, we were practicing two-setter offensive formations and libero tosses and stuff today. I think we'll actually be able to beat them the next time we play."

Meanwhile, at gymnasium #3…

"Where's Teru? Wasn't he done eating a while ago?" Bokuto asked as he spun the volleyball on top of his index finger. "I need Teru to practice with~!"

"That's weird, I told Lev to tell her to come here… Ah, there he is. Lev!" Kuroo called Lev who entered the gym alone, with Teru nowhere to be found.

"Kuroo-san, Teru-san's not around. And he's not back in the room either." He said. "OOH! CAN I PRACTICE TOO!?"

"Not too fast." Yaku showed up as well with a frighteningly calm smile on his face. "Receives. Come. First."

"Wagh! Y-Y-Y-Yaku san!" Lev tried to escape, but Yaku had already grabbed him by the ear and started dragging him to where they could practice receives with everyone else.

"Huh, that's weird. Maybe he's lost?" Kuroo pondered. "I'll go find him. You guys get started first."

"Okay. Akaashi~"

Kuroo came out of the gymnasium and started going around the nearby areas. After spending about 10 minutes, he finally found Teru in a small courtyard, talking on her cellphone. Not wanting to interrupt, Kuroo decided to wait and reveal his presence after Teru was done talking.

"…And I guess I'll be fine for now." Teru continued talking on the phone with Ritsu.

" _I see. It sounds like you're having fun!"_ Ritsu said.

"Yup. Enough about me. How about you? How's your rehab going? When I get back, let's go to Disneyland! Or USJ! I haven't been since we last went together." She asked.

"…" There was no answer, however.

"Ritsu?"

" _Teru, actually…"_ Ritsu began after a long silence.

"…What is it?" Teru asked nervously. Ritsu couldn't begin his sentence easily. After a nervous chuckle and a determined sigh, he began.

"I have _good news and not so good news. But don't worry! The not so good news isn't as bad as you think it is."_ He said, trying to sound energetic. _"So, the good news is that the doctors told me that I could walk and be able to play sports if I work on my rehabs!"_

"REALY!? That's… that's great!" Teru gleamed, sincerely happy. She smiled brightly and clenched onto her phone.

" _The not so good news is… um… I'm gonna have to leave to America for a while."_ He said.

Teru felt her heart sink. Leaving to America? Since when was this going to happen? "W-When…? How long?" She asked carefully.

" _I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I'm sorry, I tried to tell you ever since we last met… I couldn't tell you since I couldn't bear to tell you that just after meeting again."_ Ritsu apologized.

"How… how long?" Teru asked, in despair.

" _I'll probably attend college there… they told me that it's not a simple process and that it'll take at least couple years. So I might as well graduate college there."_

Teru felt like her head was going blank.

"U-Um… haha… but that's great! Y-You'll come back and we'll be able to play again!" Teru said, trying to force herself to laugh.

" _Yeah. Hey, it's not like I won't see you for four years. I'm gonna visit time to time during holidays."_ Ritsu said, trying to cheer up the mood. _"And we can skype too so that you don't forget my face."_

Teru chuckled. She still couldn't mend the giant hole in the middle of her heart that was made upon hearing the news. Ritsu had always been there, even going back to her oldest memories. Being in the same neighborhood and going to the same school and same volleyball club, they had always spent time together. They were like siblings to each other.

Tears started rolling down Teru's eyes. Not only was she sad from hearing the news, she was also sad that it was her fault that they'd eventually have to be apart.

" _Teru… don't cry."_ Ritsu said.

"Ritsu… I'm—I'm sorr—"

" _THERE YOU GO AGAIN!"_ Ritsu yelled on the phone. _"STOP SAYING SORRY! My god, if you say that one more time I'm never going to come back. Teru, how many times have I told you? Nothing is because it's your fault. It just ended up happening that way. Okay? And plus, I'm actually excited about going to America. You remember how I said I always wanted to study in America after I graduate high school? Well it's a good chance for me! I'm not sad about this at all! Well, except for the fact that I won't be able to see you often, but… I'll call you every day! If not, every other day! I'll call you so much that you'd think I'm annoying and wished that I'd stop calling."_

Teru chuckled at that while sobbing.

" _Teru. No matter what, we're still best friends, and we'll continue to be. So finish up the rest of your camp and contact me so that we can talk about it okay? You still have a promise to keep with me about being an ace and beating Fukuroudani."_

"Okay…!" Teru said.

"… _Good."_ Ritsu said. Teru heard some sniffles from the other side too, followed by a teary voice. _"I'll miss you."_

"I'll miss you too…!" Teru said, getting more and more emotional.

" _Gah. This is too emotional for me. Good-byes are best when they are short. Skype me when you get back home, okay?! And have a good time at camp! Show them who's the boss."_ Ritsu said, sniffling in between sentences. _'Just wait a couple years; we'll be able to play together again.'_

"Okay…! Have a safe trip." Teru said. "T-Talk to you later!"

" _Yup. I'll talk to you soon."_ Ritsu said, and hung up. Teru ended the call as well, and her arm holding up the phone plopped back down onto the side.

Kuroo, who was on his phone, noticed that Teru had ended the call and put the phone away in her pocket.

"Teru~ Bokuto and Akaashi wanted to practice a little bit before going back." Kuroo said as he strolled over to her, shoving his hands into the side pockets. He was puzzled as to why Teru didn't respond to him at all, with her head hung low. "Helloooo~? Teru~? Cat got your tongue?" He went over and bent down a little, taking a look at her face, only to find her cheeks covered in tears rolling down.

"W-Why are you crying!?" Kuroo panicked with his hands now out of the pocket and fidgeting, unable to find a particular solution to stop Teru from crying.

"R-Ritsu… is going away tomorrow…" Teru sobbed.

' _Ritsu…? Ah. It must be that friend.'_ Kuroo thought. "You mean your friend? Going where?"

"He's going to America…! For rehab…!" Teru sobbed even harder after saying out loud "America" and "rehab."

"Well… he's going to get some top-class treatment then, right?" Kuroo said, trying to be optimistic.

"H-He said he can play volleyball again…!" Teru said.

"That's good news!" Kuroo exclaimed, sincerely happy for both Teru and Teru's friend, Ritsu. Teru just kept on sobbing. Teru just leaned her head on Kuroo's chest and kept on sobbing. Kuroo, unable to offer any more consolation, just hugged her and pat her head to calm her down. He thought that Teru wasn't crying because of the sadness, but more due to the relief of Ritsu being able to play volleyball again.

"There, there." He said. "I know you'll miss him."

"Yeah…." She sniffled. A few minutes later she finally calmed down. "Kuroo, I'm good." She said.

"Oh?" Kuroo then let her go, taking a look at her face. "Look at you, you look hilarious right now."

"Stupid Kuroo." Teru mumbled. "…Thanks."

"Heh. If you want to thank me, wanna join me and the Fukuroudani guys with practice? I need a blocker." Kuroo asked.

"Yeah." Teru nodded and started walking with Kuroo. Before showing up with a tear-covered face, Teru stopped by the outdoor faucet area to wash her face and blow her nose. Kuroo waited next to her patiently.

"So, how long is your friend going to be gone?" Kuroo asked after determining that Teru had calmed down enough to answer questions without exploding emotionally.

"A couple years. He said he wants to go there for college, so I'm guessing four years. But he said he'll visit during holidays." She said in between washing her face.

"Hey, that's not too bad." Kuroo said.

"Mmhm." She shut off the water and combed her hair back all the way with her hands. Kuroo then noticed how feminine her facial features were from the side after Teru revealed her forehead. She tilted her head back a little and sighed at the sky. Her forehead was plump and small, her nose was smoothly curved and tiny, and she had long eyelashes, neat eyebrows, and vibrant pink lips. He also noticed that the lines of her neck, arms, and legs that were visible were smooth unlike rigged lines of other guys. He was staring into her as if he was drawn in unconsciously. He wasn't thinking much; he was just caught up in observing. Teru then noticed in her peripheral that Kuroo had been staring for a while.

"What?" She asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"H-Huh?" Kuroo snapped out. "Nothing. You have some snot right there."

"Really?"

"No."

"Fucking Kuroo." Teru groaned. Kuroo just snickered since he loved seeing Teru's reaction after being fooled. They walked back to the number three gymnasium, where Bokuto and Akaashi were practicing.

"Heeeey, there he is!" Bokuto greeted and ran off to the net, bouncing the ball with his hands.

"Teru-san, are you okay?" Akaashi asked, a little worried. He was observant enough (at least more than Bokuto) to notice the swollen red eyes and nose.

"Haha, yeah. No worries." Teru laughed. "Let's start! Am I blocking?"

"Yeah! I want some good blocks!" Bokuto exclaimed.

Since it was late into the night and they had to get up early the next morning, they called it a day after practicing for an hour and headed back to their rooms to get ready to sleep.

And that's where Teru's troubles began.

After getting back into the room, she noticed boys— _naked_ boys only in their boxers or pants, to be more exact—running around like madman after taking a shower. She noticed Kuroo taking stuff out of his bag to get ready for a shower.

' _I need to shower too… I've literally had everything on since this morning… including these supporters…!'_ Teru thought. She was covered in sweat and she never took her leg supporters off for the entire day. On top of that, she had been surrounded by sweaty teenage boys all day. She was on the brink of going insane.

"Teru, you're not gonna shower?" Kuroo said as he stood up to leave.

"Of course I am." Teru said. "You can go first."

"Okay."

Kuroo left the room. She went through her bags and took out her toiletries and a change of clothes. Teru pre-packed her girls' underwear underneath her boxer briefs that she wore over her actual underwear—but it's not like she would ever walk around in her briefs, since that would reveal her legs also. She left the room and looked around; it looked like most of them had gone to their rooms to get ready to sleep, so there wasn't anyone hanging around in the hallways. She walked out with her toiletries and clothes and walked over to the stairs, climbing to the very top floor. When she looked around, there was absolutely no one. She thought it would be spooky at first, but her worries were resolved after hearing noisy boys making ruckus three floors down.

Now, she was faced with a real challenge: which room was she going to enter? Male or female shower/locker room?

' _Well, in case anyone spots me walking out, I should go into the boys' shower, but then that also means someone could walk in on me changing… But then again, it's_ three _floors up. Who would climb up three floors just to take a shower unless you're cross-dressing like me? …Right…?'_ Teru thought. _'GAAAH. This is so hard. Maybe I'll take a look to see what it actually looks like inside.'_

Teru decided. She walked into the boys' shower room only to take a look at the setup. There weren't any doors, since the entryway had to walk around two corners to really see the room. When she walked in, she was faced with a pretty neat facility. There were lockers at the front, and behind the locker walls there were shower booths and baths. Bathroom and sinks were off to the left of the locker rooms, past a doorway.

' _Oooh, not bad, not bad at all!'_ Teru gleamed and cheered silently. The best news was that there were shower booths, which meant she didn't have to face the danger of anyone walking in when she's naked. The next problem was when she was changing into her new clothes _after_ the shower. She couldn't really leave her clothes in the booth since they would get wet, but it's not like she could come out all naked either.

She then gloriously spotted a handicapped booth, which was twice the size of the other booths. It even had built-in chairs that she could use to put her clothes.

' _Oh hell yes. I'm going for it.'_ She first used the bathroom to take care of her business. She thanked the heat and rigorous exercise since she didn't have to excrete fluid by going to the bathroom for the entire day. After she took care of the business, she went into the shower stall and started taking off her leg supporters first.

"Aaaahhhh." She let out, in utter bliss from being free of the tightness around her thighs. She started undressing, turned the shower on and was able to take a long, relaxing shower without worrying about anything. She even brushed her teeth and washed her face while she was at it, so that she didn't have to go into the bathroom downstairs. After she was done, she completely dried herself and put on her underwear and compressing cloth around her chest. She then put on a clean shirt and her briefs over her underwear.

' _Huh, it's like wearing shorts. I guess it's a little longer…?'_ She thought. But nonetheless, perfect disguise. She grinned to herself after looking at herself in the mirror. She then wore her long, baggy pajama pants, and she was set to show herself in front of people again. With her hair still slightly wet, she came out of the booth and headed downstairs, happily humming from taking a pleasurable shower. When she came back it was a little before 11 o'clock. Most Nekoma members were present and Teru spotted Kenma on his PSP, Lev talking to other first-years, Yaku, Kai, and Fukunaga chatting, and—

"Who the hell are you?" Teru asked a mysterious black-haired person, who was rummaging through Kuroo's stuff. Someone in the room let out a snort at Teru's comment.

"Huh?" The person turned around and faced Teru.

"What the—? Kuroo!? What happened to you!?" Teru exclaimed, utterly shocked by the very normal hair that Kuroo wasn't ever supposed to have. Upon seeing Teru's reaction, Kenma snorted and Yaku and Yamamoto broke out cackling.

"GYAHAHAH! TRUE, KUROO-SAN DOESN'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE KUROO-SAN RIGHT NOW!" Yamamoto said as he kept on laughing. Yaku just sat there, laughing his ass off and slapping his knee and Kai and Fukunaga chuckled. Teru gave Kuroo weird looks while putting her things away and zipping up her bag.

"Why, do I look waaaay too sexy now? I gotta say, Kuroo-san's already-overflowing-sexiness _is_ doubled after showers." Kuroo flicked his hair and said, smirking.

"I'm assuming this is my futon?" She said as she yawned while lying down, completely shutting down and ignoring Kuroo's statement, which made the laughter more explosive.

"I guess I'm next to Teru-san!" Lev said as he came over. His bag was next to Teru's, so he naturally claimed his spot next to her.

"Teru, you're sho mean to me." Kuroo pouted, zipping up his bag and getting ready to sleep on the futon in between Kenma and Teru. "…He's already asleep!?"

"Oooh! I'll sleep too." Lev said and lied down as well.

Kuroo lied down on his side, resting his head on his hand and looking down at Teru, who was already fast asleep. He then studied her face while she slept. She was completely knocked out by the rigorous routine. While he studied her face, he noticed that her skin seemed silky-smooth and well maintained. He pinched her cheeks: no response. But he was able to get a feel of her skin, which turned out to be softer and squishier than he imagined.

' _It's like baby cheeks…'_ Kuroo thought as he continued to play around with her cheeks, poking and pinching lightly, addicted to the sensation. He then found himself grinning like a moron and immediately retracted his hand, feeling slightly awkward from playing around with his friend's cheeks and grinning about it.

"Light's going off~" Someone announced and soon afterwards the room became dark and quiet. The Nekoma team soon fell asleep, anticipating another day full of volleyball when they wake up.

* * *

Sylvr Tyz: My god, I'm so sorry to hear you went through an injury :( I feel like you're just so prone to get hurt no matter what sport you do and how careful you are... had to take a break from tennis because of a fricking tennis elbow UGH. And don't even mention the numerous times I've sprained my ankle no matter what sport I play lolol. I hope you're all good and better now! And yes, I think writing stories regarding a topic where I've actually experienced in real life is super interesting! Really appreciate the support so much :)

LilweenGalatrass: :') THANK YO USO MUCH FOR THE WARM WELCOME. HERE IS THE UPDATE! Lol I forgot for the longest time that I had written a couple chapters in advance... so sorry for the wait! Thanks for reading :D

Lucy Jacob: THANKS FOR THE WARM WELCOME! Here is a chapter with more content(?) haha. Thanks for reading and leaving a review, I really appreciate it! :)))

Aka-chansama: FRICKINGBOKUTOYOUMEATYPIECEOFTANK lol. I can't agree with you more on the list of people that are taken... the world is very unfair :') And oooooh you're like very good with your deduction on Akaashi, especially considering how I already have a couple more chapters written out... stay tuned! And thanks for reading and leaving a review! I appreciate it so much :)))

Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are always, ALWAYS appreciated :) I have a couple chapters written out in advance, so stay tuned!


	11. Akaashi Keiji

Cats Have Nine Lives

Chapter 11: Akaashi Keiji

Teru woke up early the next morning to avoid walking into anyone while she headed upstairs. Her alarm started ringing at 6 o'clock and she woke up immediately. As she tried to get up, she felt something heavy on her belly and lower body. When she looked down, she found an arm and a leg over her. She turned to look and found out that Lev was the culprit.

' _No wonder it was so damn heavy…!'_ Sora groaned as she carefully removed his arm and leg, which required quite the effort. Lev, without realizing the trouble he was giving Teru, just continued to snore. _'Huh. Now that I look…'_ Teru then began staring at Lev. _'As expected of half Russian half Japanese. He's pretty good looking. If he'd shut his runny mouth for more than ten seconds, he'd be so much more popular.'_

Then she looked at Kuroo, who was sleeping next to her in a very weird position. He had his face wrapped in a pillow.

' _What the fuck?'_ Teru looked around, trying to get a sense of how on earth he was able to sleep that way. Then she noticed that his hair was back to his crazy rooster hair. Teru snickered to herself and started going through her bag to find clothes to change into. She grabbed her volleyball clothes and toiletries and headed upstairs after checking that no one was walking around in the hallway. She didn't want to put on leg supporters for the entire time, so she put on long training pants over her shorts.

When she came down, people were starting to wake up to get ready.

' _Phew. Thank god I woke up early enough.'_ Teru let out a sigh of relief. When she walked back into the room, Kai and Yaku were already up, opening up the curtains and waking everyone up.

"Oi! Lev! Wake up already! It's 7 o'clock!" Yaku nudged Lev with his foot and shook him.

"Nnngh… Yaku-san…! You won't grow taller if you don't sleep more…!" Lev groaned. At Lev's statement Yaku started kicking him even harder, yelling "Die, Lev! Die!"

Kuroo was sitting up, dozing off a little bit. His hair was back to his "normal" hair.

"Morning." Teru said.

"…Morning… You're up early…" Kuroo replied.

"I guess." Teru then went over to Kenma. "Kenmaaa. Wake up~"

Kenma just groaned and covered himself in blankets. He was not a morning person.

"HEY HEY HEEEEY~!" Then with a loud bang of the door opening Bokuto came yelling through the door, waking everyone up. He was up and ready to start the day; even his hair was gelled up. "WHO'S READY?! TERU MY MAN, YOU'RE DRESSED AND READY TO GO! LET'S GO EAT BREAKFAST! AND PRACTICE A LITTLE BIT BEFORE COACHES SHOW UP!"

"Bokuto shut up. It's fucking seven in the morning." Kuroo groaned.

"Morning Bokuto! Kenma, you better wake up! I'll head out first!" Teru said as she walked out of the room. The two volleyball freaks headed to the cafeteria by themselves. Just as they entered the cafeteria—

"Crap! I forgot to put on my lucky underwear! I'll be right back!" Bokuto suddenly yelped and rushed out of the cafeteria.

' _Lucky… underwear…? Wait, then does he have an underwear on right now? Or does he want to switch the one he's wearing?'_ Teru thought, finding this Bokuto dude slightly weird. Now she was left all alone in a quiet cafeteria. There were a few guys from Ubugawa, but she didn't know any of them. She just walked up to where she picked up the food, and decided to sit alone until Bokuto or Nekoma members came. Because she had arrived earlier than most people, there was no line to get food, which she absolutely loved. Karasuno's manager was handing out food this time.

"Good morning." Teru greeted, smiling. It certainly made her feel more at ease when seeing a girl among a bunch of guys, although that girl had absolutely no idea that Teru was a girl.

"…Good morning." The girl quietly replied.

"Ooh! Japanese style! I haven't had Japanese style breakfast in forever." Teru gleamed upon seeing steamy rice, salmon hot and fresh out of grill, and warm miso soup. Ever since she started living alone, she always either skipped out on breakfast or coped with milk and a tiny piece of bread from the convenience store. "I'd like a lot of eggs please." Teru said and Karasuno's manager smiled and nodded, giving Teru an extra portion of eggs.

Then suddenly, Teru felt chills down her back. Something was looming from behind her. When she turned around she saw Karasuno's libero with a scary, intimidating face, and Hinata, who was hiding behind his back nervously. It seemed like the other Karasuno members weren't there yet—and that meant that there was no one to control a mad dog with his leash loose.

Teru didn't quite understand why Karasuno's libero was making such a scary face. _'Ah, maybe he's not good with strangers! I haven't introduced myself to him and he thinks I'm intimidating, so he's trying to be intimidating too!'_ Teru thought. _'Man, I should step up and introduce myself! He's such a great player. It'd be awesome to have him practice with me.'_ Teru thought. She always wanted to make friends with the tiny but ridiculously skilled libero from Karasuno, but the team aura seemed so fierce to her (especially that guy with a goatee; he looked like he could snap her neck with just one hand) that she couldn't quite get a chance to squeeze in to introduce herself to them. Hinata was an exception, of course.

Meanwhile, Karasuno's captain Sawamura Daichi was out to look for the shortest but biggest trouble maker in the team. Then he saw from afar that he was trying to pick a fight with none other than the Ace of Nekoma.

"N-NISHINOYA!" He jumped out of his shoes and hurried over, until—

"Hi. I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Kurobana Teru from Nekoma. You're Karasuno's libero right? Man, you're probably one of the best liberos I've seen! Ah, I didn't get your name, by the way." Teru gleamed. At an unexpected turnout of events and Teru's smiling face, the tiny libero seemed rather taken aback. Sawamura just stood there, smiling nervously. Was this player's goodwill actually a mask to cover his malicious intent? Or was he just like that?

"N-Nishinoya Yuu…" He blurted out.

"Nishinoya, huh? Pleased to meet you!" Teru grabbed his hand and shook energetically, staring at him with sparkling eyes and a smile.

"P-Pleased to meet you. Y-You're quite a player too!" He said as well, remembering that this "pretty-boy who keeps on tempting Kiyoko-san" is actually an excellent player that definitely stands at the top in the camp.

"No, no, but your receives are like whoooooosh. How do I even explain. You're so pro! Although I'm a spiker, I gotta say, I think liberos are the bomb!" Teru shook her head and said again, her eyes sparkling even more upon talking about his receives. At that, Nishinoya let out a shy laughter.

"AHH! And you too! Your receives are fricking awesome too!" Teru said as well to Sawamura who was nervously standing behind Nishinoya and Hinata. "You're the captain right? The one that received my serve on just a third try."

"Y-Yeah. I'm Sawamura Daichi. Nice to meet you." He said, slightly taken aback, but shaking Teru's hand anyway. He thought Teru would be the colder type since she seemed calm and quiet during plays, especially when it's accompanied by her ridiculous skills. She just seemed intimidating because she was good, just like how Bokuto seemed intimidating at first (although he turned out to be a big, dumb meatball).

Meanwhile, in Fukuroudani's room—

"FUCKING BOKUTO! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR IN THE FUCKING LOCKER ROOM!? I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR ASSCRACK THE FIRST THING IN THE DAMN MORNING!"

"You're just jealous of my sexy buns." Bokuto cooed, shaking his naked butt around for everyone to see, only gaining groans and all sorts of cuss words from everyone in the room.

"Bokuto-san, please put it on already." Akaashi groaned.

"Okay!" He put his underwear on, and then his volleyball shorts. "Let's go Akaashi! Teru's waiting downstairs too."

"Ah, Teru-san…" Akaashi trailed off.

* * *

'That's weird… I've seen him somewhere before… but where…?' _Akaashi thought as he lied in his futon, getting ready to fall asleep. Although he was tired from the rigorous practice and was more than ready to fall asleep, his curiosity kept his eyes open. He then put the blanket over his head and turned on the phone so that the light wouldn't bother the others._

'Kurobana Teru… Kurobana Teru…' _He typed Teru's name._ 'They're all for the girls' team. No boys' team?' _He then clicked on a link which led to a video of the play in which "Kurobana Teru" is in. Then Akaashi found someone that had the same build as the Teru that_ he _knows right now—with a ponytail in spandex, wearing a girls' uniform, playing with the other girls. Since the video was of the entire team recorded from the benches, he couldn't take a closer look at the girl's face. But when a girl wearing number one served, she had almost the exact same serving form as Teru of Nekoma—quick, compact, but powerful._

'No way…!' _Akaashi gaped at the monitor. He then started looking for more on_ her _information. She even played for the Junior Olympics team! But as a she, not he!_ 'No... I can't jump to conclusions so quick. I didn't even get to take a close look at her face.' _Akaashi shook his head._ 'But Teru-san I know… he's definitely not the masculine type. And he always covers his legs… Why…?'

 _Akaashi then recalled how Teru actually_ never _revealed her skin the entire day. She never took off her leg supporters, not even once. But when he started to think, he noticed that Teru's curvature and physique was completely different from boys—even Kenma, who was on a skinnier side._

'But where have I seen her…?' _Akaashi continued searching. Then he found a link that lead to an article of a club team winning Tokyo championships held during the spring of Akaashi's third year in middle school. He remembered seeing a match where a girl stood out in particular because she was so good in all areas of the court—and was awarded MVP of the tournament. Maybe that's where he remembers her from._ 'I went to this event…! My school teammates wanted to see the match…! And even Bokuto-san told me that his club team played in the finals! So how come he doesn't remember?!' _He recalled._ '…But then again, it's Bokuto-san…' _Akaashi looked over to Bokuto, who was snoring and drooling in his sleep._ 'There's definitely something fishy about Teru-san… I better look out tomorrow.' _Akaashi thought as he finally put his phone down after a long time of searching and reading._

* * *

Akaashi walked into the cafeteria with Bokuto, and his gaze immediately landed on Teru, who was chatting and eating with Kuroo. After getting their portion of food, they walked over to the crew and joined them.

"Yo. I'm back. With my lucky undies!" Bokuto said as he put his plates down.

"Good morning." Akaashi greeted.

"Good morning." Teru and Kuroo greeted.

"…Teru-san, aren't you hot in long pants?" Akaashi asked.

"Not really." She replied. "But I'll be taking them off later anyway."

When it was time for practice, Akaashi observed Teru as she took off her long pants. She sat down in the corner and slowly took her pants off while sitting down, revealing her entire legs that no one was able to see the entire time. No one paid close attention in particular except Akaashi—and he noticed that her legs were rather slim and feminine, even compared to Kenma, who was the skinniest one there.

Teru nervously looked around and quickly put on her leg supporters, further bolstering Akaashi's prolonged suspicions. As she was putting her leg supporters on, Kenma made his way over to her.

"…I heard from Kuroo." Kenma said. "About your friend."

"Ah," Teru paused for a bit. "Yeah…" She said. It was all she could say. She couldn't really say anything else in particular.

"But it's a good opportunity for him, right?" Kenma asked. "If he could play volleyball again."

"Yeah." Teru smiled. "I'm really glad."

Kenma just quietly placed his hand on her back carefully and patted it a couple times as his way of encouragement.

"Akaashi!" Bokuto called, snapping Akaashi out of his focus on Teru.

"Yes Bokuto-san."

"We're playing against Nekoma first on their court."

"I see." He replied and headed over to where Nekoma was.

"Yo, Teru, Kenma." Kuroo called as he saw Teru and Kenma walking over together. "We're playing against Fukuroudani first. Formation's the same as the usual. We're serving first."

"Okay." The two nodded.

The Nekoma team got in formation and Teru got ready to serve. She bounced the ball a couple times to get a feel for the ball.

"Here it comes~! Just get it up in the air!" Bokuto said, getting ready.

Akaashi quietly examined Teru. Teru started a couple feet behind the baseline and tossed the ball up high in the air, and jumped. She jumped high and swung her arm with a compact, but powerful punch.

' _There's no mistake… although he—or she—jumps way higher, it's the same form.'_ Akaashi thought.

"Out, out!" A member called and let the ball bounce—however, the ball landed exactly on the line as it top-spinned its way down to the baseline.

"Service ace!" Nekoma members cheered.

"Dammit, sorry!"

"Next one, next one!"

' _If I am correct, and he really is a she… skill wise, she's on par even against Bokuto-san who's on a national caliber. So what's she doing, pretending to be a guy? Why did she transfer schools in the first place? And how come she didn't participate in the junior Olympics team that happened just before she transferred?'_ Akaashi was busy thinking, staring at Teru who was bouncing the ball to serve a second time. _'She's probably the best player in this camp who can cover all areas of the court. So what_ is _she doing here? Plus, does she even know how dangerous it is to be doing this kind of thing?'_

The ball went up, and Fukuroudani was able to successfully make an attack—except Teru was already ready, covering Lev's ass in the center back row. She perfectly dove down, with a clean form, and got the ball up.

"Nice receive!"

The two teams played out their best, and even still the score did not seem to settle.

"Damn… that transfer student is too annoying!" One of the Fukuroudani members said as they took a water break.

"He's short but really good. It's so unfair he actually knows how to block too! What the hell."

"You know a player's really good when you start to find him annoying~"

Everyone sighed.

"It's okay! We got this! I'll take 10, no, 20 points!" Bokuto said as he put his water bottle down, all geared up and more than eager to get back on court.

"Bokuto-san, please calm down." Akaashi said, slightly worried.

"I am calm!" He said and stomped over back to the court as Nekoma team made their way to the court as well.

"Uh-oh."

* * *

Bokuto's lucky underwear is from *alvinklein and they wrap around his butt perfectly. He also has a nice round butt because he's beefy af

Totally the type to go around naked if public nudity wasn't illegal

Also, to those who get confused by the switching of pronouns he/she, it's probably just my imperfect writing and my imperfect self forgetting to switch time to time because it's just so hard for me to keep track as well. So regard omniscient 3rd view: she and everyone else's view: he, except now Akaashi's kinda onto Teru


End file.
